Melbourne resident Trevor Bergman has completed an epic journey across Australia, donating rare blood at each of the country's 85 blood collection centres, infohub.kz reports.
The 59-year-old police officer has now made 545 donations in total. Bergman is one of just 150 Australians whose blood contains anti-D antibodies. Treatments derived from their plasma are given to Rh-negative pregnant women, preventing haemolytic disease of the newborn — a dangerous condition in which the mother's immune system treats the cells of an incompatible foetus as a threat and begins destroying them.
The idea of visiting every donor centre came to him during a holiday in Perth. He realised that regular trips to blood collection stations were a perfect excuse to see the continent. In the end he travelled from the east coast to Darwin and Western Australia. There were hiccups along the way: in the town of Albany he was turned away because of an ordinary mild cold.
The final procedure took place in Canberra at an Australian Red Cross Lifeblood branch. The Australian was joined by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who donated blood alongside him. Lifeblood noted that one in three Australians will need a blood component transfusion at some point in their lives, making regular donations from donors vitally important.