Little survivor helps launch blood centre

Andrew Mathieson
An urgent call for blood donations has accompanied the opening of a state-of-the-art donor centre in Geelong.
The new Ryrie Street centre, which hopes for 10,000 donations by July, has set an ambitious target of 200 new donors every month.
As Acting Victorian Premier Rob Hulls cut the ribbon and shared a joke with onlookers at its opening, Belmont mum Sophia Medley sighed while considering her lucky 21-month-old daughter.
Little Meg was a picture of happiness on Tuesday, cradled in the arms of aunt Sarah next to mum.
But the smiles hid the angst of a liver condition that had threatened her life.
Meg was diagnosed with biliary atrasia when she was six months old. She has since endured 37 blood transfusions and 15 operations.
She attended the opening of the donor centre with her mum and aunt to highlight the importance of blood donations.
“If we didn’t have the first blood transfusion then I wouldn’t have he now,” Sophia said.
“Right from very early on, blood kept her going until she had a liver.”
The danger signs arrived after Meg’s levels of haemoglobin, (the oxygen in red blood cells), dropped alarmingly, leading to a blocked bile duct.
A 10-month wait on an organ donation list added to the uncertainty over Meg’s fate.
“We just had to wait our turn. Your child is so sick while you wait and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Meg, whose body is now making its own blood, has overcome a bout of anorexia after being fed through a tube into her stomach.
Despite taking 11 different medications each day, Sophia’s little miracle can live a normal life.
“She loves watching Hi 5 and dancing,” Sophia says.
“She’s very independent now – she loves walking around and going to the slides at the park.
“We went to Eastern Beach on Monday for the first time.”
The Red Cross said anyone wanting to donate blood should phone 13 14 95 or www.donateblood.com.au.