I have been a blood donor all of my adult life. Starting at age 21.
In that time I have made 64 donations (pints). The average adult man has 8 pints of blood in his body. So I have donated the equivilent of 8 adults whole blood.
This is me giving blood on Friday. I donate every 12 weeks.
Every donation can potentially be used to help three individuals.
I have Neo blood. This is especially good for new born babies or new mothers suffering from complications during child birth. One Neo donation can be used to help up to 6 babies.
Having Neo blood means I have not been exposed to cytomegalovirus which is a virus commonly associated with cold sores & is particularly good for underweight babies.
I know that not everyone can give blood & with this community (tattoos & piercings) it can be very difficult to schedule. In the UK you must wait 3 months after a tattoo or piercing before you can give blood.
In the UK we receive a text (around two weeks after donation) telling us where our blood is sent.
One of my proudest moments of being a blood donor was receiving the following text.
Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) is a world renowned children's hospital. To receive two texts saying that my donations had been sent there made my heart skip a beat.
Giving blood takes around an hour, from arrival to departure, and you are potentially saving lives.
Please, if you can, give blood.
#savinglives
HotDog xx
@missy @sean @penny @lemon @eirenne @kiley
