All year round the demand for blood donations is high, and one local teen and his family are helping others to understand why it’s so important to give.
The Armatage family initially thought their active teenage son had growing pains in his knees and joints, but they received much different news, news that would change their lives.
“We got a phone call about 10:30 in the morning from a doctor here in Barrie, and he just gave us the worst news that a parent could ever get,” said Patrick Armatage. He says the doctor explained to him his son had leukemia and “that we need to get our butts in gear and get down to SickKids.”
Tynan Armatage was an active 15-year-old who played hockey and baseball, but he had to put away the skates and equipment to focus on his fight against cancer.
Tynan is now in phase two of his treatment. It includes four rounds of chemotherapy each week, which takes the family to SickKids Hospital in Toronto and Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital.
Leukemia is a cancer of the blood that causes the rapid production of abnormal white blood cells. Tynan will need blood transfusions during his care, so his family and friends decided to help.
“A lot of Ty’s friends, family and supporters came out and we collected 80 units of blood in one night,” said Elaine St. Pierre with Canadian Blood Services. But St. Pierre says the push for blood donations is still great. “Ty is representative of the thousands of people across the country who every day need blood.” She says they always see a significant drop in donations through the summer months. “The need for blood never takes a holiday. We want people to continue to donate on a regular basis.”
As for Tynan, the high school student won’t be able to return to Barrie North Collegiate this fall because his risk of infection is too high, and the athlete will have to wait until at least the New Year to return to sports.
But the teen says he’s thankful for the support he’s receiving from those around him.
“It feels good because I know I have a lot of people I can lean on.”
To learn how you can donate blood, you can find more information here.
To follow Tynan's blog click here.
