00:01For 12-year-old Sydney-sider Yasmin Saeed, a monthly blood transfusion is a lifeline.
00:07My blood cells, they die quicker because they're not formed properly, so I'll die without getting blood.
00:15After being born with a blood disorder called sickle cell thalassemia, she had her first blood transfusion at six months
00:21old
00:22and now needs them once a month at the Sydney Children's Hospital in Ramwick.
00:26I'm kind of used to it now. It's like a second home.
00:29It means we've got a family that we can, you know, see her grow, get bigger and all that sort
00:35of stuff
00:35and without the donations, we'd be missing a part of our family.
00:40But the peak winter flu season has created shortages of the critical blood supplies Yasmin and others rely on
00:46because donors can't give blood for seven days after any cold and flu symptoms.
00:52It's definitely showing in our bookings.
00:53We have a gap as many as 1,600 bookings per day that are normally filled and right now those
01:00appointments are sitting vacant.
01:01So definitely testing us out with our obligations to help out Australians who are really sick.
01:06All you need to do is just roll that yellow thing in your hand.
01:09Paediatric oncologist Dr Richard Mitchell treats many young cancer patients who also rely on blood donations
01:15and says the drop in supply is concerning.
01:18We use red blood cells, we use platelets, we use plasma, we use proteins from the immune system.
01:25All of these things are life saving therapies to make sure that the kids can survive.
01:30Giving blood involves about an hour of a donor's time.
01:33Honestly, you feel fantastic.
01:35It's the pride of helping a stranger.
01:37It's that feeling of fulfilment.
01:39It's something that I would really encourage you to experience if you haven't yet been a blood donor.
01:44At the end of it, you'll really be beaming.
