Brady Griffin Hefford

Steady Brook, N.L.

"Canadian Blood Services helped me realize that everybody should try and give something to someone. It may be a small gesture or a big gesture, but everyone has something to give. The experience was just as rewarding for me as it was for the person I was giving to."

Imagine being told your stem cells could save someone’s life — and then learning they actually did!

That’s what happened to Brady. He joined Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry upon hearing that a little boy in his community was looking for a match. While Brady was not a match for that specific patient, his efforts were not in vain: he eventually got that life-changing call to help another person in need.

At that time, Brady was working a full-time job, getting ready to start university, and preparing for his final year of playing junior hockey. Donating his stem cells would require multiple trips between his hometown and Halifax during this busy time of his life.

Still, that didn’t stop him. “I believe in always putting yourself in the other person’s position, and that’s when things become clear,” he says. “In the end, I made the right decision to donate.” And not only that — he was completely prepared for the start of the hockey season.