Author
Petra Netzel, as appeared in Alpha1 Journal 1/2025.
Celebrating a birthday: a great opportunity to thank the entire HAEMA team for their work!
In 2024, over 26,000 donors were served at the Hellerdorf distribution center, and on some days more than 200 people come.
Cathrin Platta is the center manager and one of the center's earliest employees. She enjoys going to work and knows that the tasks she and her team perform daily improve quality of life and save lives. As a patient representative for Alpha1 Germany e.V., I was able to observe her work and would like to share my impressions with you here.
Britta Diebel, responsible for the festive arrangements of the 25th anniversary, welcomed the participants from Haema GmbH, the company Grifols and other guests.
The Governing Mayor Kai Wegner and Nadia Zivkovic, District Mayor of Marzahn-Hellersdorf, received a warm welcome.
In his welcoming address, Kai Wegner remarked on the calm and relaxed atmosphere at the donation center, noting that donors felt comfortable and at ease during their blood and plasma donations. He expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the donors and staff of the Haema Blood and Plasma Donation Center. He was surprised to learn that only three to five percent of citizens donate regularly and promised to focus more on public awareness campaigns to attract more donors and help save lives. He then appealed to all Berliners: "Those who donate blood and plasma regularly save lives."„
Nadja Zivkovic is campaigning for more blood and plasma donations. She said: “It is important to promote this.“.
Afterwards, a tour of the donation center followed, during which the guests gained insight into the daily work routine. Donors learned about the importance of plasma and its diverse uses through monitors on the walls of the donation room.
An exciting part of the ceremony was the donor recognition at the donor bed. Here, I had the privilege of walking across the "bridge" from donor to patient. All donors received much praise and recognition for their plasma donations, but especially Ronja Moll (34) and Hans-Jürgen Harras (67), who were celebrating their birthdays.
Ronja Moll works at the public health department, and during her lunch break, she saves lives by donating plasma – something she's been doing for ten years! Her 480th plasma donation was practically a birthday present! She started donating plasma after losing a loved one. She wants to "give something back" and help preserve and save lives.
Hans-Jürgen Harras has been donating plasma since 1997 and has amassed an impressive 927 donations. He is convinced that everyone may need a plasma donation at some point in their lives. For him, it is therefore a matter of course, and as long as he is allowed to donate and thus save lives, he will continue to do so.
Both donors have a wonderful attitude towards plasma donation, are extremely well-informed, and their conscious decision to donate deserves our full respect. As a token of appreciation, they each received a gift, and all the birthday guests thanked them warmly.
I informed them about our very rare disease, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, and that the seriously ill patients would have a shortened lifespan without plasma donors because our life-extending medications would not be available.
It's interesting to know that 900 plasma donations can add a year to our lives as patients! Thank you to all plasma donors!
Michael Ruppert informed the birthday guests that donating plasma only takes 45 minutes. The blood is filtered, and the vital proteins contained in the plasma are extracted for the production of medications. Even in its unprocessed form, plasma saves lives by providing care for accident victims.
The anniversary celebration was drawing to a close. Impressions, opinions, and comments were exchanged over coffee and cake.
How wonderful that I was able to join in the celebration; it was a successful anniversary party!
We Alphas can also do something about this.
In conversations with acquaintances and friends, serious topics often come up. Talk about the importance of blood and plasma donations. Raise awareness in a friendly way, and who knows, perhaps there are some courageous, healthy people among you who would like to donate blood or plasma.
Impressions
Together against Alpha-1: Our podcast with HAEMA
In collaboration with HAEMA, a podcast about our condition was created at the end of 2024, in which we took the opportunity to explain Alpha-1 deficiency and also to thank our donors. Thanks also to our member Mika Röhming:
