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Blood donation vital to Squamish woman’s survival

Mom speaks at new West Vancouver clinic on May 24

It is somewhat jarring speaking to Squamish’s Ashley Oakes. 

She laughs easily and points out the humourous side of most situations. In short, she’s one of those sunshine and lightness, perky people. 

That positivity is not what you expect from someone who has suffered a rare, life-threatening illness. 

Oakes has been diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia – an autoimmune disease that mimics leukemia – twice in the past seven years; the first time in 2010 when she was pregnant with her now six-year-old son, Cohen.

During the pregnancy she was excessively tired and bruised easily, but chalked it up to being an expectant first-time mom.

At a visit to her midwife near the end of her pregnancy, she mentioned a weird rash on her legs she attributed to new boots. 

Her midwife recognized something was amiss and immediately sent Oakes for tests.

Her life would never be the same. Within a week she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that, simply defined, means she didn’t have enough blood cells.

“I was devastated,” she said of initially having to be hospitalized and giving birth with the knowledge she was seriously ill.  

She would spend the next year back and forth to Vancouver General Hospital receiving treatment, including a special form of chemotherapy. 

Thankfully, her son was born healthy. 

It initially weighed heavy on her mind that she may not live to raise him with her partner, Scott Standerwick. 

Oakes’ best friend had died of cancer six months after giving birth just a year before. 

“It felt like that was playing out again,’” Oakes recalled. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, are we really doing this again?’” 

Oakes and her family were relieved when they discovered she had an autoimmune disease and not cancer, Oakes said, laughing at the irony of celebrating the news of her diagnosis. 

She eventually recovered and was off all medication for nine months before she relapsed in 2012. Another round of treatments followed. 

She is currently in remission, though she continues to take immunity suppressants. 

She’s received about 30 units of blood products over the journey of her illness. 

If she relapses again, she may require a stem cell transplant to save her life.

While she donated blood before her illness, she has become more of an advocate for the Canadian Blood Services since her diagnosis.   

“There would have been no chance of me surviving, were it not for the generosity of donors,” she said.

On Wednesday, May 24, Oakes will speak with donors at a new blood clinic that runs from 1 to 8 p.m. at Gleneagles Golf Course and Club House in West Vancouver. 

“I encourage my community to become blood and stem cell donors. Donations are a lifeline for people like me who are in critical condition when they’re awaiting their diagnosis and they have no ability to produce their own blood,” she said. 

For more stories from the Squamish Chief visit squamishchief.com.