Maitland Blood Donor Centre needs 50 extra donors this Easter Saturday and Monday.
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Historical trends showed an increased demand for blood before and just after the Easter long-weekend.
Someone who wants to see these numbers filled is five-year-old William Haggarty of Bolwarra Heights.
Wil became unwell the night before his first birthday in 2011 and was taken to Maitland Hospital.
His hemoglobin count was 23 when it should have been 120.
Wil was rushed to John Hunter Hospital in need of a blood transfusion.
Wil’s mother Alex said by the time doctors got a line into Wil’s veins, she was half-an-hour from losing him.
It was discovered that Wil suffered a rare virus, Transient Erythroblastopenia of Childhood, and the blood transfusion allowed his body to reset and start producing bone marrow.
Alex and her husband now urge people to donate, as they are unable to.
“If you can donate you should, because there’s so many people who can’t.”
![PLEASE DONATE: Ali Haggarty, of Bolwarra, with her five-year-old son Wil, whose life was saved by a blood transfusion. Picture: MAX MASON-HUBERS PLEASE DONATE: Ali Haggarty, of Bolwarra, with her five-year-old son Wil, whose life was saved by a blood transfusion. Picture: MAX MASON-HUBERS](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/5Hw4diqMS6vE7dLX3uHPVX/4d7caca9-1da8-40c6-aa1c-8f4a99133119.jpg/r835_31_3645_3330_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)