Donor is a person who gives life to others and who leads a healthy lifestyle

Each donor has his own story of how he joined the donor movement. Here is one of them, the story of Sergey Nikolaevich Yefimov, "the Honorary Donor of the USSR", head of the public organization "The Donors of Murmansk".

The Honorary Donor Institute exists in Russia since 1944. Most honorary donors dedicate their lives to the donation once they saw that their blood can save lives. From that moment, there is no other people’s pain or misfortune for them...

But each donor has his own story of how he joined the donor movement. Here is one of them, the story of Sergey Nikolaevich Yefimov, "the Honorary Donor of the USSR", head of the public organization "The Donors of Murmansk", member of the Council for blood donation under the Government of the Murmansk region.

- Sergey Nikolaevich, please, tell us about yourself.

- I was born in the village Aleksandrovka of the Orenburg region. After finishing the 42th school for the enlisted personnel of the Russian Navy in Kronstadt, in 1979, I was sent to Murmansk to serve at the military unit 20533 and made my way up to the replacement mate. I graduated from the International Institute of Economics and Law in "Finance and Credit". I am married and have two sons - 14 and 22 year old. Now I work as a category 5 welder at the state regional unitary enterprise "Murmanskvodokanal".

- What was your first experience with donation?

- It was in 1983. I was at the military training camp at that time. Six years later, I donated blood regularly, and in a year and a half, I received the title of "Honorary Donor of the USSR".

- How many times have you donated blood?

- Well ... there were about 436 donations of blood and blood components.

- If the title of "Honorary Donor" was awarded several times, you would have received it at least seven times! What prompted you to donate blood so actively?

- A donor is a person who gives life to others and who leads a healthy lifestyle ... Visit us in June, the time we are holding a blood donation and fund raising campaign "Give blood - Save children's lives" for the patients of the 4th child care division of the Murmansk children's hospital. Once you saw the eyes of these children, you have no more doubts. You come into the room and meet a man holding his two-year old sick baby with one hand and a drop counter with another...

Sergey Nikolaevich Yefimov, "the Honorary Donor of the USSR", head of the public organization "The Donors of Murmansk"

- Sergey Nikolaevich, what is the progress with the donor movement in Murmansk and the region?

- The donor movement is actively supported by regular donors and by young people as well. For example, one of our youngest honorary donors, Sergey Karpenko is a little more than twenty. He was awarded the "letter of gratitude for a proactive stance" from Dmitry Medvedev, who acted as the President of Russia at that time. The attention given to donors of Murmansk has recently increased blood donation by the organizations’ staff, including the traffic police of Murmansk, the court bailiffs’ service, a military unit 13690, the Kola medical college and the Vidyayevo medical center. Donation campaigns are often held on Saturday.

Donated blood is a unique resource that should be regularly replenished. The surgeries are carried out in city hospitals every day, the doctors have to save the victims of road accidents, the patients with blood diseases require constant treatment... In Murmansk, the blood situation is safe due to the activities undertaken within the framework of the federal program for voluntary blood donation and, also, I think, due to the measures taken by our social organization "The Donors of Murmansk".

- You lead "The Donors of Murmansk". What are the main objectives of this public organization?

- "The Donors of Murmansk" was founded in 2006 with the support of the regional branch of the Russian Red Cross. The main objectives of the organization include promoting the voluntary unpaid donation, protecting the rights of donors and raising the prestige of donation, of people who are always ready to help someone who is in trouble.

- How do you maintain the interest to the donor movement among the citizens? Share your experience.

- We are working to spread the awareness for blood donation; we try to make it popular. For this reason, we organized the first competition "The best donor of the Murmansk region" right after establishing “The Donors of Murmansk” and have held it annually since then. The participants are evaluated in four categories: the maximum number of donations of blood, plasma and blood components and the donors’ dynasty. Over 150 people won the competition during these years. They received valuable prizes and gifts, and letters of appreciation from the Murmansk Regional Duma and the Governor. By the way, the Arctic was one of the first regions where such a competition has been held.

- Tell us about your plans for the development of blood donation in the region?

- The plans are the most wonderful! The New Year is coming. In December, we have started preparation for the next competition. In 2013, we will introduce a new category - "The Best corporate donor", since the corporate donation is becoming more popular every year. You could not help thinking about the future on the eve of the New Year. I hope that one day my sons will dedicate their lives to the donation. The eldest son has repeatedly donated blood. I wish that good deeds and help to the needy have been considered normal in the society.

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