I use to see the Blood Services truck driving by me and always think "wow, there must be a lot of blood in this truck" I would always shiver and quench at the thought of even seeing blood. Just going for a blood test alone needed some serious preparation.
Then it suddenly hit me! What if I donated blood? What is more important, my fear of needles and blood or potentially saving someones life? I thought long and hard and by coincidence, I was at the mall and the blood donation clinic was there. Without giving it a second thought, I immediately went to the registration desk and registered to donate. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
As I approached the nurse she asked me some personal questions and pricked my finger. She could tell that I was nervous and scared and was slightly hesitant in allowing me to donate. However, she allowed me to donate anyways.
Once I got to the final stage, I lay down on the bed waiting to finally donate my blood. I looked away, as the nurse stuck the needle in my arm and told me to relax and squeeze my hand. She also put a paper towel on my arm so that I don't see the needle.
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Ten minutes later, I was done; it was that fast! I had my cookies and my juice and sat with a veteran who has donated blood over 300 times in his life. During my conversation with him, he explained to me that each blood donation that you make saves three lives.
I realized the importance of donating blood. It's not about the acknowledgment you may get, it's not about conquering your fears, it's not about you at all. It's about saving a life.
It's only 1 hour every 56 days. That's 1 HOUR out of 1344 HOURS!
The ten minutes of pain that you may endure will save someone who has been living their whole life in pain. In the time it takes for your to check your Facebook, you could save a life.
Think about how many people will have a smile on their face simply because of your blood. There are the three people whose life you have saved, and their friends and their families whose lives have been blessed, and all this simply because you donated your blood. It is the best and most rewarding feeling in the world.
So, why is donating important to me? I donate because I want to. I love donating blood because it's my way of giving back, there's nothing better that I can do for myself and others than give back. I donate because I care about people in pain. It's important for me to donate because it makes me happy to know that a part of me will give someone the gift of life. I donate because a part of me will make someone happy.
Don't forget, after every donation you get FREE COOKIES!
love love love this when i grow up i wanna be just like you :)
ReplyDeleteI admire your passion and dedication to this. I probably feel hesitant about donating blood because I would like to know whose lives does my blood save. For example, if my blood is going towards saving the life of soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq who are over there killing thousands of innocent people, then I wouldn't feel too found of myself. However, my concern would probably apply better if I were in America where the rich get health care and the poor can't afford it. Yet I also strongly believe in and respect those like yourself who help others in need, whether they're friend or enemy. It is a pure act of selflessness and probably the best example of what a Muslim should be =)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about that, but let me add a very good reason that make you donate your blood. It's refreshing your blood, because the human body contains approximately 5.6 to 6 liters of blood and when you donate they take from you about 0.5 liters. This quantity need approximately 6 months to be regenerated in your body. So every donator get 0.5 liters of fresh blood in his body after 6 months. In the other hand I think Dina said the rest of benefits. And I want to tell you something I already did it more than 3 times & never get a free cookies :-(
ReplyDeleteI've donated blood for a few years and started at 18. If this is something you care about, I recommend looking into donation of platelets. Platelets are much more scarce resources compared to red blood cells, plasma...etc. Since the donation only takes platelets from your blood all the other constituents of blood are returned to you. You are not at risk of low iron after repeated donations and can therefore donate every 2 weeks. Furthermore in terms of benefits to patients in the hospital, giving a platelet donation is superior as they have less of a risk of reacting to the donation from one donor as opposed to pooled donations from 5 different donors. anyway, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteLina, in Canada we have agreed that universal health care is one of the most important values. Judging someone because of the choices they make (which are sometimes not really their choices at all) and denying them health care which may include transfusions of blood is utterly disgusting.
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