The moment that changed everything. Why I’m asking Canberrans to roll up their sleeves
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There are moments in life that split everything into “before” and “after.”
For my family, that moment came on an ordinary day when my son TJ and I were hit by a drug driver. We live with “before the crash” and “after the crash.
In the chaos that followed, it wasn’t just the sirens, the flashing lights, or the incredible work of emergency services that stayed with me. It included something that was less visible, but just as critical. Blood.
In car crashes like ours, blood isn’t optional. It’s the difference between life and death. And it was that for TJ.
What many people don’t realise is just how much blood can be needed in an emergency. It can take up to 100 bags to save a single life. And every single one of those bags comes from someone, somewhere, who took an hour out of their day to donate.
That’s why I’m sharing our story now.
This May marks the launch of the Emergency Services Blood Drive, a national campaign that runs from 1 May to 31 July, and it’s one of Lifeblood’s most important annual initiatives. It’s designed to boost donations during winter, winter being a time when supplies drop, but demand does not.
Emergency services workers witness firsthand the impact of blood shortages. They’re there at car crashes, house fires and medical emergencies. They are there when people’s lives hang in the balance. And each year, they step up, not just on the front line, but by rolling up their sleeves to donate.
Last year alone, emergency services teams across Australia contributed more than 14,000 donations, helping save tens of thousands of lives. Here in the ACT, our generous emergency services teams contributed 625 donations, helping save 1,875 lives.
But this isn’t just their responsibility. You don’t need to wear a uniform to save a life.
In our before-crash life, I hadn’t truly grasped how essential blood donation is. It’s easy to assume it will always be there when it’s needed, someone else will make the donation. But the reality is, Australia requires around 33,000 donations every single week to meet demand.
And those donations support so much more than trauma cases like ours. They’re used for cancer treatments, surgeries, childbirth complications, chronic conditions. Everyday medical care that quietly relies on a steady supply.
A single donation can save up to three lives. And it takes about an hour.
An hour.
For me, this campaign is personal. It’s about turning something traumatic into something meaningful, which is why I’m helping get the word out there. It’s about making sure that when another family experiences their worst day, the resources they need are already there.
Because when you’re in that moment, there’s no time to wait.
The Emergency Services Blood Drive is about community. It’s about showing up for each other in ways we might never see, but that matter more than we can imagine. And it’s much bigger than our Emergency Services Teams alone.
So this is my ask to Canberrans: if you’re healthy, eligible, and able, please consider donating, blood or plasma. Be part of our community by making a donation.
Do it for the people you love and for the people you’ll never meet.
Do it because one day, someone like TJ might need it.
And when that moment comes, it will mean everything that someone, somewhere, chose to give. It’s the difference between life and death.
