A pair of blood donor clinics, one in Wallaceburg and the other in Chatham, are being held this week in memory of a Wallaceburg man.
Gerald Gagnier died on November 8 after suffering from an abdominal aneurysm.
He was 61.
Gagnier’s daughter Sarah Logan (formerly Sarah Harold) told the Sydenham Current their family is hoping to gather donations at the clinics to surpass the amount of blood her father utilized in the last month of his life.
“He had several surgeries and he used about 80 units, we are estimating,” Logan said.
“At 500 ml a unit approximately, that is like replacing your blood volume more than seven times. He realized how lucky he was to be in a place at the University Hospital in London where they had the resources and the skills to help him through the medical issue he was having, which was an abdominal aneurysm. So we are hoping to surpass the amount of blood that he used.”
Logan said specifically their goal is to have 80 people donating blood.
“Even if that doesn’t all happen in one day, that is okay,” she said.
“We will be able to keep track of it going forward once we get a partner ID (with Canadian Blood Services.) We are going to try and keep track with all of our family and friends just letting us know, so we have that tally. Once we get a partner ID number, which is pending, then people can go online and register their own donation as a contribution to our goal for my Dad.”
Logan said her father grew up in Grand Pointe and went to school in Chatham.
Eventually, Gagnier’s father got a job in Wallaceburg and the family all moved to town.
“They made that their home,” Logan said.
“They ended up becoming a part of the community and integrating so much that we couldn’t even go eat at a restaurant without seeing people that we knew.”
Logan said her father sold Christmas tress in front of Home Hardware for years.
“He had yard sales. We lived on Dufferin right beside the Old Sister Subs. He, his Dad and brother would repair bikes and sell them. They would fix up antiques. We had yard sales all the time. He was an auctioneer. He also had a flea market business and they would take some of those antiques and other goods to Sarnia and out to Grand Bend on the weekend,” Logan said.
“I remember getting up at like 3 a.m. to go with him sometimes. He was always at the coffee shop. Didn’t matter which one. Every time he walked in, he knew someone there. He traveled a lot. He just wanted to live life to the fullest and see every part of the world he could and then he would come back with his stories and tell them to anyone that would listen.”
The Chatham clinic is taking place today (Wednesday, November 14) and the Wallaceburg clinic is being held on Thursday. Here are the details:
Chatham Blood Donor Clinic – 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday, November 14, 2018
The Spirit and Life Centre – St. Joe’s Site
184 Wellington Street West P.O. Box 261
Chatham, ON, N7M 3P2
Wallaceburg Blood Donor Clinic – 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, November 15, 2018
UAW Local – 251
88 Elm Drive South
Wallaceburg, ON, N8A 5E7
Gagnier’s family and friends will also gather on Saturday November 17 at Riverview Cemetery in Wallaceburg at 1 p.m. Afterwards, a celebration of life is being held at the Moose Lodge in Wallaceburg, located at 110 Duke St.
