IF IT wasn't for people donating blood, Deon McFadyen reckons he wouldn't be alive today.
It was almost two years ago that the father-of-two - a diesel mechanic from Nelsons Plains - started to feel exceptionally tired and fatigued.
He thought he might have had dangerously low iron levels.
"We were probably a bit naive, because I've always been pretty fit and healthy," he said.
"We thought I might just have low iron. Or something like that. When they told me I had leukaemia, I think I actually laughed out loud - just out of shock. I couldn't believe it. My life just changed overnight.
"It was devastating. It's hard to explain. It was horrendous."
His two sons were nine and six at the time.
"I started stressing out, worrying about not seeing them grow up," he said.
Mr McFadyen was diagnosed with two different forms of blood cancer - acute myeloid leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia - on February 15, 2019.
"At the Mater, they told me that if I didn't start treatment immediately, I probably wouldn't last a year," he said.
"They said if I'd left it another month, we'd be having a different conversation, it'd be a different story.
"They were going to give me the harshest chemotherapy treatment that they could without killing me, and a bone marrow transplant. So straight up, I had six or seven weeks in hospital."
Mr McFadyen - six feet tall and usually about 100 kilograms - dropped down to just over 70 kilograms.
Since his diagnosis, he said he had spent a total of 24 weeks at the Calvary Mater in Newcastle, and three months at Westmead while undergoing a bone marrow transplant. He has received more than 100 blood transfusions to keep him alive.
"My wife counted them," he said. "I needed 65 whole blood transfusions, and over 40 platelet transfusions and a plasma exchange."
It is why the 42-year-old hopes more people will take a minute to roll up their sleeves and donate blood - particularly over Christmas and New Year.
"I don't think people realise how much blood is needed, all the time," he said. "I've had 100 transfusions, and that's only me. That's not to mention other cancer patients, people in car crashes, workplace accidents, other illnesses... It is unbelievable how much the blood van actually needs."
Mr McFadyen's friends set up the "Big D Blood Challenge", to encourage his friends, family and acquaintances to donate blood.
To date, they have made about 800 blood donations.
"I'm an O negative blood type, and O negative people can give blood to pretty much anyone, but I can only have O negative," he said.
"There were times where I'd have to wait 24 hours for blood because there was none in stock. It's like gold.
"The stats are that one-in-three people will need some sort of blood product in their lifetime, but only one-in-30 donate."
Mr McFadyen hoped sharing his story would inspire others to donate blood.
"I wouldn't be alive without it. I would have died 12 months ago," he said. "They tell me I'm in remission. I want to live a long life - I'm determined to. I had a couple of close calls. But now I try to cherish the moments - with my wife, and with my boys."
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