Blood donation

My story is that whenever there was a blood donation drive in church, my father would go. I, on the other hand, would stay FAR FAR away from it. It scared me. The needles, the smell, the whole atmosphere of the place.

But as I grew up, I matured and learned from my father's example. It's not THAT big a deal after all.

Needles?

Yes, I hate needles, but if you really think about it, the pain that comes from a needle is tiny compared to the pain from say.. falling down on your knees. You scrape your skin, your bones hurt and your flesh is bruised for about a week.

As for blood donation, you get nothing but maybe a tiny baby hole that you might not even be able to find a minute after the needle is taken out.

The size of the needle looks damn big. But ironically, it's the little ones that hurt, and the big one, painless.

"Being able to donate blood is a blessing. It means you are healthy". That's what my dad told me.

That statement surfaced to my mind today as I tried to donate blood once again. The first time I did it, my blood flow was really slow. The second time, I had to be jabbed twice, and the one that worked hurt as blood flowed out, slowly. Third time, I was jabbed 3 times. One which the blood flow was barely a quarter bag and had to be thrown away. I tried again on the same arm, and again on my other arm. All were failures.

To me, I was wondering, is this a sign of old age? Am I unhealthy? Why is it that with every attempt to donate blood, the situation worsens?

This time, will I just not be able to come out with even a quarter bag?

As I waited for my turn, I watched with envy as my friend filled up his bag to bursting point in record time. What a healthy guy! I wanna be like that too! It's embarrassing to be the one that sits there forever just to have her blood bag thrown away because there was just too little blood. Not to mention, what a waste of all that jabbing!

This time round, there was the usual problem with finding a vein. The nurse had to try really hard on both arms to coax out any vein I have. But the sacrifice despite the odds was worth it =) What relief and joy it brought me when the nurse said "Check dia punya (blood bag), laju!". I got to donate a whole bag, and real fast too!

It was a great sign that I am healthy! =)

Why donate blood?

Why go through all that trouble and pain?

The typical answer would be, "You save a life". Yup, to put it simply, that's what it is. But the impact of those words don't quite reach people sometimes.

Some would say, "Save a life? But why would I wanna save a stranger's life? It's MY BLOOD!"

Yes, technically, that's what happens. But I like to make it a bit more personal. I like to think, I am saving my father's life. A man who always freely donated his blood year after year till his health declined.

Now it's time for healthy people like us, to donate our blood to help those before us.

On a lighter tone, it's REALLY sexy to see a guy donate blood. It kinda shows he's got muscles AND heart =P