Gazette, Richard Arless Jr.             
Monique Proulx of Red Cross draws blood donor Serge Lacombe during clinic on Honmoku Maru. 
Blood flows on transport ship in Old Port
By Catherine Buckie
of The Gazette
 
  Serge Lacombe combined business with bleeding yesterday when he boarded the huge Nissan ship in the Old Port to look at car engines and noticed a blood donor clinic going on inside.
  Lacombe, 31, said he was riding his bicycle through Old Montreal visiting clients and decided to make a stop at the boat.
  "I'm not a buyer. I'm interested in the mechanics since I'm in the car parts business," he said.
  Labombe's own car is in the shop for repairs which is why he was making his rounds by bicycle yesterday.
  "I was attracted by the boat and then I saw the Red Cross outside. I wanted to give blood before today but I couldn't. 
  That's why I grabbed the occasion."
  François Therrien, in charge of the blood donor clinic, said Nissan officials contacted the Red Cross and asked them to set up a clinic aboard the ship. He added that Nissan provided some volunteers.
  The clinic was open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and by the time it closed last night, 137 people had donated.
  But the drive got off to a slow start. By noon, only 30 people had given blood. Some people blamed it on a lack of publicity, but one donor blamed the AIDS scare
  Kathy Tolmai, 23, said she decided to give blood aboard the ship because it was the closest clinic to her place of work.
  She said she tried to persuade her friends to come with her but they said they were afraid of the risk of getting in contact with the AIDS-related virus.
  "I don't know why. Of all people I don't think the Red Cross would re-use needles."
  Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is mainly transmitted through semen, vaginal fluid and blood.
  Ibrahim Wehbe and Marie Veronneau said they had just decided to take a walk through Old Montreal and the next thing they knew, they were giving blood.
  "We saw the ship, decided to come and see the cars, saw we could give blood, so here we are," Veronneau said.
  It was Wehbe's first time giving blood. "I hope I don't faint because I want to see the cars," he said as the nurse approached.
  The Nissan ship, the Honmoku Maru, is docked at the Jacques Cartier pier at the foot of St. Laurent Blvd. until Friday and is open for business every day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.