A family member of a friend is in a really rough way.
From where I am, there is little to nothing I can do.
Anyway, I figure this is something that is played out across the nation, across the world, hundreds of thousands of times over at least. So while I can’t help this person, I can help somebody’s loved one.
So I’ll be off to the bloodmobile in this person’s name. My blood won’t go to this person, but it will go to someone, or several someones, and might make all the difference in the world.
And I encourage you to do the same, or (if you can’t, for whatever reason) to pass the message along.
In the US, the Red Cross number is 1 800 GIVE LIFE. In case you want to find out where you can give.
Thanks.
15 comments
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Randomfactor
September 4, 2012 at 10:25 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Won’t be eligible again until the 14th…but I’ll be there ON the 14th.
(My late wife was a transplant recipient…I’m on the donor and bone-marrow lists too.)
carpenterman
September 4, 2012 at 11:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I do the platelet donation a few times a year. That’s a real easy way to feel good about yourself all day; lay on a comfy recliner and read for an hour or so while nice nurses bring you grapefruit juice.
Trebuchet
September 5, 2012 at 12:39 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thank you. My Mom was kept alive by transfusions for 2-1/2 years. I can’t thank the donors enough. I go every 8 weeks.
Suido
September 5, 2012 at 2:40 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
As an Australian who lived in the UK during the 80s, I’m not allowed to give blood due to the risk of BSE. I do urge anyone who is able to give blood to do so. It’s the gift of life, and takes so little.
Paul Durrant
September 5, 2012 at 2:55 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I live in the UK, so the BSE thing is not an issue (we’ve all either got it or not by now).
My next donation will be my 50th.
embertine
September 5, 2012 at 6:48 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Did mine last week! A pint of your very finest O pos. Sadly, the rules for women in the UK mean I can only donate three times a year, which is ridonk in my opinion. I mean, I am a bit fat and my iron count is nice and high! I’ve got plenty to spare!
gAytheist
September 5, 2012 at 4:07 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Unfortunately, the Red Cross still won’t allow gay men to give blood, even though I’m in a monogamous relationship that has lasted 26 years. Sigh.
annaoconnell
September 5, 2012 at 5:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I am in a similar situation(family member of a friend is in a bad way) and also a regular blood donor, into my 6th gallon so far. I will be eligible to donate again in October, and will do so in the name of the injured person.
Thanks for sharing a clever way to feel less helpless in the face of problems, your own or other people’s.
markr1957 Inc.
September 5, 2012 at 10:28 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Apparently even though I left he UK 12 years ago, and even though I lived in Scotland where there has never been a single recorded case of BSE, my blood is not welcome despite being O neg (the perfect donation) – silly rules!
sphex
September 6, 2012 at 3:23 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Yeah, I lived in Italy from 80-88, so they won’t let me give. Which drives me up a wall. But thank you to all those who can, and do.
Emburii
September 6, 2012 at 5:57 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
They just got a pint of O- from me.
(I put ‘proud participant of Atheism+’ on the sign-in sheet.)
Stevarious
September 6, 2012 at 11:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I can’t give either, because my mother had a blood born disease 30 some years ago.
I understand the reasons for some of the rules. But I don’t like it.
Dale Austin
September 7, 2012 at 8:54 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
gAytheist@9
That rule is the FDA I believe and not the Red Cross. Take it up with them. The Red Cross is severely regulated in what they can do.
shouldbeworking
September 7, 2012 at 9:28 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I can donate again in October and I’ll be the first one in the door at the clinic. Canadian Blood Services won’t let anyone who lived in the UK for a certain period of time donate either. Stupid, perhaps. Just like airplanes making you turn off your cellphones while in flight.
gillyc
September 7, 2012 at 10:12 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Can’t donate because I’m on sulfasalazine. And I’ve been told that even if I come off it, I won’t be able to donate until two years later. Which seems a bit ridiculous to honest.