Australian cancer victim Holly Butcher's family is sharing a heartfelt letter she wrote before she passed away at age 27, encouraging people to give blood and to better enjoy life.
The letter, posted on Facebook, has been shared more than 61,000 times.
Butcher wrote in the letter that blood donations had helped her live longer and asked people to donate “regularly.”
“I feel like it is something that is so overlooked considering every donation can save three lives!” she wrote.
Butcher died from Ewing’s sarcoma and had lived an extra year with blood donations, ABC Australia reported.
“A year I will be forever grateful that I got to spend here on Earth with my family, friends and dog. A year I had some of the greatest times of my life,” Butcher wrote.
Australian Red Cross Blood Service spokesman Shaun Inguanzo told ABC Australia most blood donations go to cancer patients because chemotherapy destroys patients’ ability to make their own blood cells.
ABC also reported only about 60,000 of the more than 1.3 million blood donations the service collects each year are repeat donations, and that if even some of them donated twice in a year, the service wouldn’t need to call for blood donations again.
Butcher's letter also gave some advice on how to live life to the fullest. She said people should “try just enjoying and being in moments” instead of taking pictures for social media, should “value people’s time,” and should appreciate being able to work and exercise rather than complaining about it.
Butcher, who played squash and hockey for the state, said people should “take a big breath of that fresh Aussie air” and “think how lucky” they are to be breathing.
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