A White Rock, B.C. mum is encouraging eligible Canadians to roll up their sleeves and donate blood.
Donating blood has been an essential part of Soon Nick’s life for many years, and Thursday (Dec. 4) was a particularly special blood donation, as it was her 19th time donating blood and the first time she had given blood after donating her kidney to someone she had first heard about in a Facebook group.
In April 2025, Nick saw a post in the ‘South Rock Moms’ Facebook group that caught her attention.
A person posted a photo in the group of their friend, Alexis, a young mum in need of a kidney, and asked those with O+ blood type to consider donating.
Because she had been donating blood regularly, Nick knew her blood type was O+.
“I didn’t hesitate, I was like, yeah, I’m 100 per cent,” Nick said. “I messaged the group, and on Monday, I called the Kidney Foundation, and they told me what the next steps were, and then I met with them, got blood work done, and there are so many steps. Got to meet the doctors, the nurses, and then I got to meet her, and now I’ve become really good friends with her.”
As a mother herself, Nick did not want this woman’s children to grow up without a mom, which was what inspired her to donate her kidney. Alexis has two kids aged 4 and 5, and at this point, her kidney function was at 12 per cent.
On Oct. 6, Nick donated her kidney to Alexis.
Nick said Alexis is recovering well, and her husband had told Nick, “I can’t keep up with her, she’s running a marathon, and she’s doing great, and she’s back to her normal self.”
While organ donation might not be for everyone, Soon said, she wants the public to know how easy it is.
“They say six to eight weeks is the recovery stage, but it’s honestly the first two to three weeks that are probably the hardest. But after that, you’re fine,” Soon said. “As a mother, I can tell you this: I would say, do it, because then you don’t have to cook, you don’t have to take the kids to their activities, you don’t have to do anything, you just have to sleep.”
Nick’s message to the public is that if you are eligible to donate blood, to book an appointment. “It takes like 10 minutes of your life, and you can be saving so many people’s lives,” Nick said.
Craig Nielsen, community development manager for Canadian Blood Services in Vancouver, added that the appointments are usually around 45 minutes to an hour, but the actual blood donation only takes about 10 minutes, and you get some tasty snacks after.
Donating does not have to be a solo adventure; people can create a Partners for Life team of any size. Teams can participate in a number of ways, including organizing a group donation event, becoming pledge partners, and/or becoming social media champions.
Nick organized a group blood drive on Thursday, Dec. 4, with eight friends and co-workers from Asahi Canada at the Surrey donor centre in Guildford as part of the Canadian Blood Services ‘Fall Get Together’ challenge.
“The essence of the challenge is getting a group of family, friends, colleagues, parents, brothers, sisters together to come and donate,” Nielsen said. “Because we see that larger percentages of people are willing to donate when they’re going with a group of people.”
This was the first time Nick had brought in a group this size, as she had previously brought one or two friends along to donate with her.
Nielsen said, “That’s how a lot of groups start, just small, and then through word of mouth, more people join.”
Because blood and blood products only last 42 days after donation, there is always a need for donors.
Half of Canadians are eligible to donate blood, and of those, only four per cent actually donate, Nielsen said.
Donor centres often see a dip in donations during December, but Nielsen added that many Canadian Blood Services donor centres remain open throughout the holidays.
The Surrey location at 15285 101 Avenue will be open for its holiday hours on Dec. 24 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Dec 26 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Dec 31, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Jan. 1, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The regular hours for this location are: Monday and Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Sundays.
As of Dec. 5, there are 602 available appointments from Dec. 20 to Jan. 3 at the Surrey clinic.
To book an appointment or learn more, visit blood.ca.
About the Author: Anna Burns
I cover breaking news, health care, court, Vancouver Rise FC, Vancouver Goldeneyes and social issues-related topics for the Surrey Now-Leader. anna.burns@surreynowleader.com Follow Anna on Twitter.