QUEBEC CITY, Sept. 3, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Jean Bernier, a 60-year-old blood donor living in the Québec City area, made his 1,000th blood donation today at the GLOBULE Blood Donor Centre, located at the Laurier Québec shopping centre.
Mr. Bernier has made giving blood part of his routine since the age of 18, as one way of giving back to the community. Donating blood makes him feel like he is helping other people and making a difference. "It warms my heart thinking I can save lives every time I give blood," he said.
Mr. Bernier is a regular at the GLOBULE Blood Donor Centre at Laurier Québec, where he has been giving plasma every week since the centre opened 10 years ago. He appreciates the flexible appointment schedules and the comfortable facilities. And his 1,000th donation is far from his last. He plans to keep being a donor as long as he can.
Mr. Bernier is retired from the Cégep de Limoilou, where he taught electrical engineering. He continues to give back to the community through his volunteer work, which includes serving as a volunteer firefighter and first responder in Shannon, a municipality just outside Québec City.
Dr. Jean De Serres, President and Chief Executive Officer of Héma-Québec, hailed this outstanding achievement: "I applaud Jean Bernier for his extraordinary sense of humanity as he makes his 1,000th donation. Every blood donation from every donor is important, but Mr. Bernier's unwavering commitment is a particularly remarkable example of community spirit and a source of inspiration for giving the gift of life."
On hand for this milestone were Michel Thérien and Jacques Paquin, the two other Quebecers who have crossed the 1,000-donation threshold. Together, the three of them have made 3,300 donations—an impressive feat indeed!
About Héma-Québec
Héma-Québec's mission is to efficiently provide adequate quantities of safe, optimal blood components, substitutes, human tissues and cord blood to meet the needs of all Quebecers; to provide and develop expertise along with specialized and innovative services and products in the fields of transfusion medicine and human tissue transplantation.
Héma-Québec encompasses 1,300 employees, over 300,000 donor visits to blood drives per year, 16,000 volunteers and more than 500,000 blood products delivered annually to Québec hospitals to meet the needs of patients.
Give blood. Give life.
Image with caption: "Jean Bernier, a blood donor from the greater Quebec city area, makes his 1000th blood donation (CNW Group/Héma-Québec)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130903_C9876_PHOTO_EN_30350.jpg
Image with caption: "Jacques Paquin (left), Jean Bernier (center) and Michel Thérien (right), three donors who have donated altogether 3,300 times (CNW Group/Héma-Québec)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130903_C9876_PHOTO_EN_30348.jpg
SOURCE: Héma-Québec
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