Westmeath blood donors honoured at awards ceremony

A number of Westmeath blood donors were honoured at a ceremony hosted by The Irish Blood Transfusion Service recently.

The service held its annual Gold Drop and Porcelain Pelican awards ceremony for the North-East/Midlands region in the Ardboyne Hotel, Navan. Some 82 50-time donors received their Gold Drop and seventeen 100-time donors received their Porcelain Pelicans at the ceremony. Donors and their guests attended from counties, Westmeath, Longford, Cavan, North County Dublin, Kildare, Leitrim, Louth, Meath, and Monaghan.Iosif Korpas, Area Manager for the Ardee Centre, was MC for the ceremony and welcomed everyone including board members of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service and congratulated all the donors on their significant achievements.

Chief Executive Officer Orla O’Brien thanked donors stating that donating 50 times is quite an achievement but donating 100 times is awe inspiring. “It is lovely to personally meet the donors who without their help could not benefit the many people in our hospitals every day in Ireland,” she said.

The CEO presented each of the 50-time donors with their Gold Drop awards and the Porcelain Pelicans to the 100-time donors.

Ms. Emma Gilbey spoke on behalf of her family and thanked all the donors present Emma received blood before and throughout the four hours of emergency surgery that followed the birth of her son Charlie. 14-year-old Charlie took to the podium and thanked donors for saving his Mum’s life receiving a huge round of applause from the audience.