Thirty-eight-year-old Roni Vieira from Timor-Leste has donated blood more than 20 times so far. In April 2021, when Vieira was infected with COVID-19 and required emergency blood transfusion following a severe bout of anemia, people from across Dili eagerly stepped forward to donate for him. “When the doctors told me that many people had turned up to donate blood for me, I was overwhelmed. I didn’t expect it at all,” said Vieira, who presented his testimony on the World Blood Donor Day on Tuesday organized by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the Guido Valadares National Hospital, Ministry of Health and Red Cross in Timor-Leste.
Vieira, a father of three, who works in a retail oil company, was first exposed to the idea of blood donation in high school. He later became an active member of the Red Cross in Indonesia where he went to study further.
“I must have first donated blood at the age of 19,” Vieira recalled adding that he donated blood with the motive of helping others. “The camps I attended in high school always highlighted how blood donation can save lives. Later, as a member of Red Cross, I was exposed to more blood donation activities and camps which encourage me to donate regularly,” he said.
In April 2021, when Vieira tested positive for COVID-19, he was admitted to the Vera Cruz isolation facility for nearly a month. His oxygen saturation had dropped to 35% and doctors had to eventually put him on ventilator support. The disease damaged his lungs badly and he also became anemia. After testing negative, Vieira was shifted to the Guido Valadares National Hospital where he was treated for anemia with the help of blood transfusions. “The doctors told me that I needed three to four units in a day. But thanks to blood donor community that turned up for me, the hospital received many more units,” he said.