DONAGH, P.E.I. — Six-year-old Mason Doran wants everyone to know that even though he has hemophilia he can be just as active as everyone else.
His experience with the disorder and his willingness to talk about it played a big part in his class winning an award this past week.
On Thursday, the P.E.I. chapter of the Canadian Hemophilia Society presented Mason’s Grade 1 class at Donagh Regional School with the second annual Garry MacLean Award for knowledge of hemophilia and related blood disorders.
“I need a needle. It helps me not to have nose bleeds or anything,’’ Mason told The Guardian, of the rare disorder in which a person’s blood doesn’t clot normally because it lacks sufficient blood-clotting proteins.
“I’m able to do everything that everybody else is able to do. I play soccer, I play basketball and baseball, and the clotting factor (from the needle) helps me to do all those things. I’m able to live a normal life.’’
- An inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly
- This can lead to spontaneous bleeding as well as bleeding following injuries or surgery
- Blood contains many proteins called clotting factors that can help stop bleeding
- People with hemophilia have low levels of either factor VIII (8) or factor IX (9).
- The severity of hemophilia that a person has is determined by the amount of factor in the blood
In creating the award last year, the P.E.I. chapter put together a $1,000 prize for P.E.I. schools from kindergarten to Grade 9. Teachers and individual classrooms can apply for it. Classes are encouraged to do any one of a number of activities, such as create a video, do a presentation, write an essay, do a skit or present an art exhibit — anything that creates a learning experience when it comes to hemophilia and bleeding disorders.
A panel judges the entries, and the winning class receives a $1,000 cheque it can put towards anything from a pizza party or supplies the classroom requires.
“Basically, we immersed the students with lots of videos and books on hemophilia, and the students were able to create a video with very little prompting or coaching from me,’’ said Bethany Doyle, the class’s teacher. “They learned a lot . . . we want to raise awareness (for) the students . . . Mason felt very comfortable sharing his knowledge about hemophilia with his friends.’’
Meaghan Doran, Mason’s mother, said her son gets the needle once a week and leads a pretty normal life.
“There’s been some ups and downs, but . . . he does a lot of things that years ago you didn’t think he could,’’ Meaghan Doran said.
Meaghan hopes the award and the publicity it gets raises public awareness.
“I find it surprising that a lot of people don’t know about it. All of the awareness is great,’’ she said.
Cathy Wright, president of the P.E.I. chapter of the Canadian Hemophilia Society, made the award presentation at the school, noting that the disorder is very close to her heart. MacLean, who was her brother, was born with severe hemophilia A (factor VIII deficient). He lived a full life and contributed many volunteer hours and leadership roles to both the national and local societal chapters. The award was named in his memory.
“My brother was very big on education and knowledge, and he loved kids,’’ Wright said. “For him, this day would be quite an honour and for our family as well.’’
To apply for the award, email [email protected].