youths

The managing director of the Community Blood and Tissue Centre of Asturias, María Teresa Díaz, made an appeal to young people this Saturday to increase the number of people who donate blood. She did so at the opening ceremony of the 14th edition of the Blood Donation Day of the Principality of Asturias at the Trade Fair. An event that served to reward six citizens of the region who have accumulated more than 100 extractions throughout their lives. They were Fernando Aurelio Cheda, Alfonso Javier Menéndez, Carlos Acebes, Héctor Pañeda, Carlos Álvarez and Juan Carlos Funes. “I feel proud and happy to have been the object of tribute, but above all for being supportive and saving lives,” said Carlos Álvarez, a 61-year-old from Oviedo.

From left, Carlos Vigil, Maria Teresa Diaz, Carmen Moriyon, Manuel Faustino Valdes, Celia Fernandez, Victor Manuel Rodriguez and Ernesto Marcos Antuña, yesterday, at the Congress Palace of the Luis Adaro exhibition center. | Angel Gonzalez

The prizes were also awarded for the drawing competition of the workshop “Blood, the liquid of life”, in which 14 schools participated. The first prize went to Aline Canalias, from the public school El Parque, in Blimea; the second to Azul Samarkanda Prieto, from the Colombres school, in Ribadedeva; and the third prizes to Inés Fernández, from San Cucao, in Llanera, and to Aitana de Artaza, from Rey Aurelio, in Sotrondio.

All those who spoke at the meeting agreed that “more people are needed, and mainly more young people.” “Only 4 percent are donors,” warned the First Vice President of the General Council of the Principality, Celia Fernández, who recalled that “if there is no blood, there is no health care.” Fernández and Díaz were joined by the Mayor of Gijón, Carmen Moriyón; the Deputy Director of the Organization of Health Services of the Principality of Asturias, Víctor Manuel Rodríguez; the President of the Federation of Blood Donors of the Principality of Asturias and of the Association of Blood Donors of Gijón, Manuel Faustino Valdés; the President of the Brotherhood of Blood Donors of the Principality of Asturias, Ernesto Marcos Antuña; the President of the Association of Blood Donors of Avilés and Corvera, Carlos Vigil, and the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Gijón, Félix Baragaño. “Without your work, many lives would be lost,” said Moriyón, who was responsible for presenting the certificate of appreciation to the president of Fuensanta, José Luis Fernández Martín-Caro, for promoting blood donation in his campaign “It could be your life and every drop counts.”

José Luis Fernández Martín-Caro, receiving the diploma from Carmen Moriyón. / Angel Gonzalez

Likewise, the Councillor for Public Health of the Oviedo City Council, Lourdes García, collected the eleventh Dr. Joaquín Fernández Memorial. As for the awards given to collaborating entities, the Chambers of Commerce of Gijón, Avilés and Oviedo were the winners.