21/04/2026
World Haemophilia Day
Haemophilia is a rare disorder in which the blood of the patient does not clot properly due to lack of blood-clotting proteins. When a person with haemophilia suffers an injury, the lack of clotting factors can cause him to have excessive bleeding. Some patients with the severe condition can even experience bleeding in muscles, joints and other parts of the body.
One of our MedicAlert members, who has lived all his life with haemophilia, tells us a little of his life story……..
I was diagnosed a severe haemophiliac at birth in 1953 in a Paarl hospital. I was tested immediately because my eldest brother, whom I never knew, had died of an internal bleed in then Palestine, now Israel. This was while my father was serving in the allied forces during World War II. My newlywed parents had fled from Poland at the onset of World War II and ended up in the Middle East where my three elder sisters were born. After the War, the family travelled by ship down the east coast of Africa, landing in Durban in 1947 to start a new life.
I almost bled to death after birth… Continue reading his story in this post – you won’t regret it
The MedicAlert shop has “Red for Haemophilia month” specials - shop now!
https://www.medicalert.co.za/product-category/special-offers/hemophilia/
Member Care Team
MedicAlert Foundation of SA
