How the death of SOPHIE exposed Greece’s issues with blood supplies

The high-profile death has raised other concerns reports Anastasia Miari, in Athens

DJ SOPHIE (Getty Images for Coachella)

“That idea of the hospital running out of blood? For me, it was panic. When I heard that they were running out of blood, I was panicked,” says Ciaran Moore.

Ten days ago he woke to a text pleading for blood donations for his friend, SOPHIE, the grammy-award-nominated producer and trans icon. She was admitted to hospital with internal bleeding after a serious fall and her friends in Athens - where she’d been staying for a time - were rallying for donations. 

The pioneering musician died because of the severity of her injuries, but the text her circle of friends received on Friday morning is indicative of a long-standing problem in Greece. The hospitals just don’t have enough blood. 

For years Greece has been importing blood from Switzerland to make up for its poor supplies at home.  Following delays on payments after the financial crisis, Switzerland cut the blood it was sending to Greece by half. Blood from donors makes up just 60 per cent  of the blood supply at hospitals.

“We should really be at 90 per cent,” says a doctor who asked not to be named at the Metaxa hospital in Piraeus. Instead, hospitals currently use essential operations as leverage to acquire blood from patients’ families. They require that blood is donated by a patient’s family in advance of most operations, in order to replenish already depleted supplies. 

“An American friend of mine who was vacationing on Amorgos had a heart attack and the doctors would not operate until they had enough blood donations,” says Patricia Moneta, a Canadian expat living in Athens. 

While locals might find it easier to call upon friends and family, visitors to the country and temporary residents (like SOPHIE) who are finding their feet could be at a disadvantage. At an already distressing time, patients, their friends and families are being pressured to top up Greece’s blood bank.

“Everyone deserves to have the care that they need when they're in hospital. It should never really be a case of the hospital running out of blood,” says SOPHIE’s friend, Moore from his downtown Athens apartment.

He comments on how many people  actually showed up to give blood after a mass rally of Sophie’s friends on Friday: “We were lucky because we were able to get so many people to donate, the hospital seemed impressed.”

As a life-long blood donor since her mother’s car accident when she was 12 years old, Moneta also had a similar experience when giving blood in Greece. “The first time I went to give blood here it was like I was a celebrity - everyone was so shocked that I wasn’t doing it for anyone I know, but rather, just as a volunteer. I was quite insulted on one occasion when the woman taking my blood assumed I was doing it because I worked for the state and could get a day off,” she says. 

Those working for the government and members of the armed forces are encouraged to donate blood and are compensated with days off from duty. A study carried out by the Hellenic Blood Transfusion Society to gain insight into the Greek public’s perception of regular blood donation found that incentives were essential in securing donations.

Paid leave from work, free blood tests and the future availability of blood for self and family were outlined as the primary incentives that might motivate the average Greek person to give blood. 

“Greeks are not the biggest volunteers in the world. They help their families but volunteerism has never been something in the Greek spirit so they only donate blood to get something back,” says Moneta, whose husband is Greek. 

This sentiment is echoed by the doctor at  the donations centre at Metaxas hospital. “It’s a very serious issue here in Greece,” he tells The Independent. “We never have enough blood." he adds, insisting that the blood supply system needs to be centralised in Greece with national rather than regional campaigns and blood drives. Currently, the blood supply system in Greece is decentralized, with each hospital responsible for its own supplies. 

Another reason he gives for shortages is excessive blood transfusions. “I think physicians sometimes transfuse more than is necessary. We use a lot of blood because we have many thalassaemia and sickle cell anemia patients in Greece,” he says.

Studies have found that the bureaucratic process and restrictions on those who can donate blood are also key factors contributing to the nation’s low donation take up. Moore was turned away as a potential donor for SOPHIE because he lived in the UK prior to 1996 (the Greek system won’t allow anyone living in the UK during the Mad Cow Disease outbreak to give blood). His sexual orientation also excluded him from the donors list. In Greece, men who have sex with men are not allowed to give blood. 

“It’s already a bad day, something terrible is happening in your life, you shouldn’t have these other feelings of panic and shame, like, not being worthy of helping your friend,” says Moore.