Canadian Blood Services & Trillium Gift of Life Network kick off Five Points of Life ride - Raising Awareness for the need for Donors

11 September 2006

Canadian Blood Services and Trillium Gift of Life Network hosted the first Canadian kick-off for the North American Five Points of Life ride - a biennial marathon ride for life. Eight amateur athletes are cycling from Parliament Hill to Miami's South Beach to raise awareness of the five ways that we can share life with others: by donating whole blood, platelets and plasma (through apheresis(*)), bone marrow, organs and tissue.

Each of the eight riders has a compelling personal connection to one or more of the five points. They will share their personal stories to inspire and raise public awareness about the need to donate along the 2,217 kilometre route (1,378 miles) over 44 days. Participants will stop in dozens of communities along the way - including Toronto and London, Ontario - to meet with donors, recipients, school children and city leaders.

Canadian Blood Services and Trillium Gift of Life Network are working hand-in-hand with tour sponsor LifeSouth in organizing this cross-border ride. This is the fourth time LifeSouth has coordinated this long distance ride for life, but this is the first time Canada has been involved.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, Ontario Health Promotions Minister Jim Watson, Rabbi Reuven Bulka, Ottawa lawyer/cycling enthusiast Lawrence Greenspon, donors and recipients spoke and helped send-off this year's team.

"I would like to commend the organizers of the Five Points of Life ride for their foresight in bringing us together in such a dynamic way to promote the many ways we can provide the best possible outcome for the patients we serve," says Graham Sher, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Blood Services.

"We are proud to participate in this event to raise awareness of the importance of giving the gift of life", said Frank Markel, President and CEO of Trillium Gift of Life Network. "Each cyclist is a powerful reminder of the positive results of donation and should serve as an inspiration to all Canadians and we thank them for beginning this journey in Canada."

The need for donations is great:

- One in two Canadians will need blood for themselves or for close family

members in their lifetime. One blood donation has the potential to save

or improve up to three lives. Canadian Blood Services must recruit

80,000 new blood donors this year to meet the increasing hospital

demand for blood.

- Each year, hundreds of Canadians need bone marrow transplants to treat

potentially life-threatening illnesses. Canadian Blood Services manages

the Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry (UBMDR) in Canada with the

exception of Quebec.

- Fewer than 30 per cent of these patients will be able to find a family

member who has compatible bone marrow. In most cases, an unrelated

donor is the only available source of bone marrow. Canada and the U.S.

have a long history of cooperation. In fact, the U.S. National Bone

Marrow Donor Program (NBMP) facilitated its first international marrow

transplant in 1988 when a U.S. patient received marrow collected from a

Canadian donor.

- 4,000 Canadians are waiting for an organ transplant - Including 1,755

men, women and children live here in Ontario. Every three days, someone

dies waiting for an organ transplant. While public opinion polling

indicates four out of five Canadians support organ and tissue donation,

consent rates are below 50 per cent.

- (*)Apheresis is a process that removes plasma and platelets - the blood

component that controls bleeding- to treat heart surgery patients, and

other patients with leukemia, cancer, aplastic anemia and in heart

surgery. Platelets have a short shelf life of five days.

- Umbilical cord blood contains a high concentration of stem cells at

birth. Saving them offers another transplant option for people,

especially children who have been diagnosed with leukemia, anemias and

other disorders.

About Canadian Blood Services

Canadian Blood Services is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the blood supply in all provinces and territories outside of Quebec and oversees the country's Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry. A dedicated team of about 4,500 staff and 17,000 volunteers enable us to operate 41 permanent collection sites and more than 19,000 donor clinics annually. Canadian Blood Services is a non-governmental organization, however the Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Health provide operational funding, and the federal government, through Health Canada, is responsible for regulating the blood system.

About Trillium Gift of Life Network

The Trillium Gift of Life Network is dedicated to planning, promoting, coordinating and supporting organ and tissue donation across Ontario and improving the system so that more lives can be saved. It was created in December 2000 by the Ontario Government's Trillium Gift of Life Network Act-legislation designed to significantly increase organ and tissue donation in Ontario. Sign your donor card. Talk to your family about your wishes.

About LifeSouth:

LifeSouth a system of non-profit, volunteer blood centers that provides blood components and services to more than 110 medical facilities in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Established in Gainesville, Florida., in 1974, LifeSouth is federally licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. LifeSouth is a member of, and accredited by, the AABB, and is a member of the AABB National Blood Exchange, and America's Blood Centers.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available on

the CNW Photo Network and archived at http://photos.newswire.ca.

Additional archived images are also available on the CNW Photo Archive

website at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited

members of the media/

For further information: Anne Trueman, Manager Media Relations, Canadian Blood Services, (Work) (613) 739-2538, (Cell) (613) 295-5622; Jennifer Tracey, Director of Public Affairs, Communications, (Work) (416) 619-2299, (Cell) (416) 573-0977; Kari Cuss, Public Affairs, Communications, (Work) (416) 613-2300, (Cell) (416) 526-0564; Braden Rhomer, Five Points of Life Coordinator, (Cell) (352) 262-2674; Karen Rhodenizer, Director of Corporate Affairs, Five Points of Life, (Work) (352) 224-1633, (Cell) (352) 538-7870

Source: newswire

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