Donating Blood

I’ve popped up a day early because today is World Blood Donor Day. It’s a cause that’s very important to me and I’ve donated blood since I started university six years ago.
Most people are horrified at the thought of giving blood. The very idea of a needle being stuck into your arm and blood flowing out of it is not pleasant. Even as a regular blood donor I can’t say it’s pleasant. I find the actual process of giving blood uncomfortable and still can’t actually bring myself to look at my arm when it’s happening.
Physically though, it’s not really that bad. There’s a slight pain but it’s nothing compared to standing on a plug for example. There’s a lot of things which are worse. There is a reasonable chance that you’ve had a blood test or at least an injection before. It was probably unpleasant but the vast majority of people will cope with it OK. Giving blood is the same and the more you do it the more you get used to it.
I don’t feel I have very much to offer to the world. I don’t pay very much in taxes at all and my job only has a minor impact on a handful of lives. But one thing I can do which makes a difference is give blood. It saves lives, simple as that.
Imagine you were in hospital needing a blood transfusion and were told there was no blood because no-one donated. It’s an absolutely terrifying thought that you might well die for no good reason at all. It’s an extreme scenario but the NHS do desperately need blood. They are in need of a huge 200,000 new donors this year, especially people from South Asian and black communities.
There’s an unpleasant but bearable few minutes of giving blood and then you get a biscuit. It’s remarkably simple. Whilst there are people who have a genuine fear or a medical condition which means they can’t give blood, most people can. It’s even fairly flexible- you’d have to work very odd hours to never be available to give blood.
I was amazed after recently given blood that you now receive a text telling you which hospital your blood has gone to. It really made me think about the reality of giving blood and the remarkable things that happen after the session.
For more on giving blood visit www.blood.co.uk or search online if you live elsewhere in the world. Have you really got a good excuse not to?

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