Something that’s always fascinated me are the odd stories you hear about from around the world, I think it’s part of the reason why history interests me so much. It’s the strange stories that make you laugh or shake your head that you can’t believe are real.
For instance, did you know Canada had wild camels in the Rocky Mountains for a short period of time? No, camels are not native to Canada, but during the Cariboo Gold Rush people were looking for animals which could carry a lot of weight and camels are a great pack animal. However, they are not a great pack animal in the Rockies.
The camels were being sold by a San Francisco merchant as camels had been used to work in Arizona for rail construction and the merchant had used them during the California Gold Rush. The problem? The camels went lame as they are built to walk in sand and not on rocky terrain for strenuous, extended periods.
These little fun facts I can usually find on BBC news by looking up the sections “Also in the News” or “News from Elsewhere.”
The other day as I was reading through the topics which have ranged in the past, I came across one titled, “Romania: ‘Pay with blood’ at Transylvania music festival.”
I know you’re wondering… “What?” Because that was my same reaction. Intrigued by the title I clicked on the link. Apparently in an effort to promote blood donations, the Untold festival, which takes place at the end of July, is using the legacy of Count Dracula, a vampire in Bram Stoker’s novel, who is based on the particularly violent historical figure, Vlad the Impaler.
By playing up the legacy of Dracula, through an advertising campaign that shows Dracula attached to a blood bag, and offering free or discounted tickets to the festival for blood donations the intention of festival organizers is to increase the number of people who donate blood.
Bogdan Buta told BBC, “Given that Romania faces an acute blood shortage in medical facilities, a campaign that takes inspiration from these myths in order to draw attention to a real problem is more than welcome.”
Apparently Romania has one of the lowest figures for blood donation in the whole of Europe at less than two percent of active donors.
This made me wonder about Canadian facts and figures. According to Canadian Blood Services – in a press release from November 2014 – on average someone needs blood every minute of every day. Blood and blood products have a limited shelf life, which makes this demand a constant. However, despite a high need, one in two Canadians are said to be eligible to give blood, while only one in 60 actually do: one in 60 or 1.7 percent of the population donates blood. Making it look to me like Canadians need to donate more as well.
