I did something today I hadn’t done for maybe 20 years.
I donated blood.
Way back when, I was a regular blood donor. I turned up at the donation center every eight weeks, sat back in the chair and got to relax for 10 or 15 minutes while helping several other people who could be in a literal fight for their lives.
But between pregnancies and developing Type I diabetes, I had to stop. Back then, taking any injected medication meant you couldn’t donate blood, and I had to inject myself with insulin several times a day.
It might sound strange to say, but I missed it. I missed the feeling of doing something good, something that is as close to purely altruistic as I’ve been able to get. Donating blood helps cancer patients, people having surgeries, people who have suffered traumatic injuries. Other than the lying down and resting part, and a free bottle of water and package of pretzels or popcorn, I don’t benefit at all.
Except I did. I needed a blood transfusion as a newborn; if someone had not donated then, I would not be alive today. One of my kids has also had blood transfusions during and immediately after surgeries.
It’s the kind of thing that nobody plans to need, but when you do need it, especially unexpectedly, you have no recourse except to count on the help of strangers. Help that they might have rendered before you knew you had any need of it.
The donors whose blood helped me and helped my daughter don’t know us, or at least, if they do by some wild coincidence, they don’t know they helped us. I don’t know who any of my previous blood donations helped. I don’t know if they were used as whole blood or separated into components to help more people or if they sat in a hospital fridge until they were too old to use.
Even if they were never used, I’m glad they were there.
If they did get used, I don’t know if they went to extend and improve the quality of life of an elderly cancer patient, or to a mother who hemorrhaged during birth, or an infant who needed open heart surgery, or to a shooting or accident victim. I kind of like that, because I’d like to extend and improve the lives of people in all those circumstances.
It was nice to get back to the donation center, which was still right where I left it all those years ago, and back to feeling like I was doing something that will help someone, somewhere, reinforcing the idea that we are all part of the same human family.
The rules for blood donors changed in 2023, so I’m late to the party, but if you are at all inclined to give blood, find out whether you’re eligible by contacting the donor center nearest you.