About 27,000 donations are needed each week to meet demand. Cancer patients, pregnant mums and their babies, people undergoing emergency surgery, road trauma victims and people with certain blood conditions all rely on blood products to keep them alive.

In 1999, I was one of those people in need. After the birth of my first child, my daughter, I lost three litres of blood and needed a blood transfusion.

I'm extremely thankful to those people who donated that blood, whoever they are.

It meant I could actually look after my newborn baby properly.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to recognise and personally thank donors in our region who have donated blood more than 50 times - what an amazing milestone for these selfless individuals.

It was a very personal moment for me as I reflected on the gratitude I have for blood donors.

My blood type is A+ and because type A blood is common (about 38 per cent of Australians are blood type A) it is in constant demand and more is always needed.

One in three Australians will need blood in their lifetime, but only one in 30 donates. You never know when you or someone you love will need blood, and there's no better way to ensure it's there than to become a donor.

It takes only an hour of your time and every donation helps save three lives.