Mark Pilgrim continues to face his cancer journey with a smile on his face; after 20 days in ICU, he took to social media to thank blood donors who made his transfusion possible.
Johannesburg, South Africa (16 November 2022) – South African radio presenter Mark Pilgrim shared his scary cancer news in February this year and promised to smile, even when he is afraid. This diagnosis came after 33 years of being in remission. Today he had a blood transfusion and he thanks South Africa’s donors for making it possible.
In Mark’s youth, he was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer, which spread to his lungs and kidneys. He fought cancer off and had been in remission until his recent diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer. The scans relieved that he had several tumours throughout his body, and so aggressive treatment was started to shrink them.
Mark swore to fight his cancer with all his might and has left many in awe of his continued positivity, even on his very worst days.
The worst days have been a little more these days as Mark has spent the last 20 days in the hospital after a procedure to repair his collapsed lung. The first procedure was to drain the lung which needed a week’s recovery, then his second was to reinflate the lung.
Mark has continued to do exercises and keep up with sharing his daily life on Instagram. He has had a few rough moments but has remained positive. This week he got to see his girls after three weeks in ICU and today, he had a blood transfusion.
He wanted to share his thanks to all the people in South Africa that donate blood each day. Donating blood makes all the difference to people fighting cancer or in need of a top-up. Mark tagged the South African National Blood Service in his post too.
If you would like to donate blood, you can find out how below.
Less than 1% of South Africans are active blood donors. A unit of blood only lasts 42 days after donation and, for this reason, it is important for blood donors to donate regularly. Donors can give blood as often as every eight weeks.
Every unit of blood can save a minimum of three lives as blood is separated into red blood cells, plasma and platelets. SANBS aims to collect 3000 units of blood per day to ensure a safe and sufficient blood supply in the health care system.
To become a blood donor, you must:
- Be between the ages of 16 and 75 years.
- Weigh 50kg or more.
- Be in good health.
- Lead a healthy lifestyle.
- Consider your blood safe for transfusion to a patient.
To find out more about where you can donate blood, visit www.sanbs.org.za or call 0800 11 90 31. Connect with us on Twitter (@theSANBS), Facebook (@SANBS) and Instagram (@thesanbs).
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