Friday, October 17, 2008

Community Service Announcement

Hey everybody, just providing you with a short distraction from the gymmery.

On October 31 I will be donating blood. It's the first time I will have ever done it and, depending on how I go, it may not be the only time.

I'm a person who is deathly afraid of and anxious about getting injections, but when I was stopped by a Red Cross volunteer in the street the other day asking for my details, I figured I couldn't put it off any longer. I was nervous when they called last week and asked to confirm a date for my donation and I thought "well, if I put it off for too long, I probably won't even show up out of nervousness, so it's better to make it sooner rather than later". I've picked the 31st (inadvertantly keeping with the Halloween theme and the whole "ooooh something's gonna come and take your bloooood" thing).

I encourage anybody over the age of 16 who is of good health and who wants to do something to better the lives of others to consider donating blood. Several of my friends have done it and made it through fine, and my mother is a nurse who deals daily with people desperately needing blood transfusions and the like. I'm surprised I didn't have the cojones to do it sooner.

You can find out more from the Australian Red Cross Blood Service here.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good onya Mez! I have been a blood donor since I was legally able (soooooo about 6 years now) and it really is a fantastic thing for you to do for others. And it's not as bad as people seem to think. It's not scary. It's not painful. It's not gross. You're saviong three lives for goodness sake. That should outweigh any fears/reservations/uneasy feelings anyone has about doing it.

Now that you're on their books too mez, they'll call you constantly to ask you again and again - blood is always needed!

Brinds

Anonymous said...

I've been a regular donor for two years now. It's not nearly as bad as you think it will be, in fact, once you've done it a few times you actually feel incredibly comfortable. They're very nice people who run the place, and you're looked after really well.
Cheers,
Hannah

Anonymous said...

Good on you. I'm iron deficient so I can't donate (people already stop me and ask 'are you okay? You look really pale'), which is a shame. But I have put myself on the organ donor registry. It's great that we're all working together, doing whatever we can.

Anonymous said...

I just turned 16 and i'm so excited to donate blood for the first time.
I'm gonna take my best friend and we're gonna celebrate being 16 together by donating blood : )

Anonymous said...

Good on you for taking the first step Mez. I have been donating for over 20 years now and knowing that you will make a difference to many peoples lifes, is amazing.

For the younger members here who would also like to make a difference, you could perhaps do what my daughter has just done recently.

She got in contact with the Blood Bank to inquire about groups donating and together with her school, organised a visit from a representative to discuss and answer questions for possible future donors.(If under 18 they will need parental approval to donate)

The Blood Bank now comes to the school with a mini bus, takes the children to donate and then returns them safely back to school.