I have been donating blood for about five years now and I must admit it is the most gratifying thung U have ever done. I am proud that I may help someone survive for half an hour of my time, three times a year. Not much of a price to pay is it.

Why did I start, I guess my Dad was the first reason. No not because he needed it but because he started giving blood because of my sister. Twenty years ago my sister had an operation that went wrong and they needed pints and pints of blood. The problem was that she had rare antibodies in her blood which meant blood type ?o? was no good. Did you know that there are volunteers on the blood service with rare blood groups that are on call. There are, when my sister needed the blood, ,they were called and collected by the police to donate. They also donated a couple of times, staying in the hospital so that they could keep an eye on them. They saved my sisters life. So my dad started giving blood.

As I child I had to give regular blood tests and I hated it, the pain was horrible, so it took some time for me to go?.believe me I was cacking my pants when I went, 23 year old and I was worried it would hurt. What would happen if it made me cry, if I let out a yelp, the nurses would laugh at me. I have never walked into a room feeling so scared and then made to feel relaxed so quickly. There are Male and Female nurses, all happy to see you there doing your bit. Taking the time to talk to people and make the time go quicker. I followed my Dad like a lost sheep.

?Have you donated before?? the nurse asked me.

Now I was embarrassed instead of scared, so I just shook my head. I was treated like royalty, told not to worry, the Sister would see me first, but to sit down and read all the leaflets carefully. The leaflets outline whether it is safe for you to give blood, both for you and for the person that may need your blood. The questionnaire was very straight forward, yes / no boxes (you fill this in eve
ry time you go) then you wait to be called.

There?s my name so I get up and go to a desk where they ask name and address, check my questionaire and ask me to sit down again. The tension is now building because I am getting closer to someone ripping my arm off and pouring the blood in a bucket. Then my name was called again and I had to go to another desk. This one is more scary there is a very friendly nurse with an assortment of test tubes, plastic containers, swabs and a pen. After checking my details again she talks about my history and describes what will happen (but you are gonna have to wait till I am on the table). Then she sticks a little needle in my finger, ow! Sqeezes it and then drips some blood into one of the test tubes, one drop on a little glass tube is all she needs. This is to test that you have iron in your body and are not going to be affected by giving blood. When she is satisfied I go back to my seat and wait for the final call.

There it is, now I am sweating, I think I must have looked slightly worried because the nurse asked if it was my first time and then kept the chat going to make me relax. You lay up on a bed and they take the blood out of your wrong arm , if you are right handed they use your left and vice versa. When three people had been over checked my name, address, Date of Birth and cleaned a spot on my arm the sister came over checked it all again, put a tourniquet on my arm and then stuck the needle in. Did it hurt, a bit but no where near as much as I expected. In fact she was walking away and I was still expecting more pain.

The whole time a nurse sat with me chatting and making sure I was okay, then after ten minutes she took the needle and hose out of my arm and asked me to press a pad where the needle had been. After ten more minutes she put a plaster on and asked me to sit up slowly and follow her to the refreshments. First timers are only allowed orange or lemon. After a few more minutes you
can go.

It has changed a little since then, you only have the one nurse (sorry guys) and there are more questions to answer but the pain is still less than a paper cut and you are helping another person. They record your donations and send you reminders when you should be going, but they can change dates, locations. They travel the country and they are very regular. If for some reason you cannot donate, there are always other venues close to your home that you can attend.

It is a worth while way to spend your time, there isnt the pain you think there is and it could help a friend or member of your family. Please don?t wait for there to be a need of your own to find out that you could have donated before. If you are worried, talk to your doctor, phone the national blood service or just turn up at one of their sessions, make an hour of your life count for someone else.

Slightly off the subject when I moved house the National Blood Donation Service sent me ten cards to tell people of my new address, it?s a way of them advertising but it was worth it.