Blood donors crash website, queue for six hours to helppublished at 05:53 GMT
Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News, Sydney
Officials earlier today put out an urgent call for blood to help treat those injured in last night’s shooting, and Sydney has responded in droves.
The blood donations website crashed under the weight of demand, so Lifeblood – the agency which manages them – appealed for people to show up at blood banks anyway.
Here at Town Hall, in the heart of Sydney, the wait to donate is over six hours.
Colt has already spent two hours in line but isn’t leaving. “We can keep [the victims] in our thoughts and our prayers, but as far as tangible impacts, this is all we can do,” the 21-year-old explains.
Image source, BBC/ISABELLE RODDColt is among the donors who have overwhelmed blood banks
A little further down the line, 52-year-old Jim says the shooters’ “cowardly” act had kept him up last night, and by morning he was resolved to help.
“I
don’t necessarily agree with what is happening overseas, but that doesn’t mean
that you open fire on innocent people here,” he said. “They
cannot justify [it] by saying there are dead children over there, so a… little
girl should die here on the beach.”
Gesturing to the line stretching out in the sun behind him, 21-year-old Alex Gilders said he hoped the city’s reaction was a comfort to the Jewish community.
“Australia has your back.”
