How rude! No, of course he’s not that old… on 23rd June, Rob, our MD, went to give blood and has now racked up 75 ‘points’, making him an Emerald donor (badge and certificate in the post, apparently!).
He’s written this article not to collect praise, but to highlight the growing importance of blood (and other product) donation. Quite simply, giving blood saves lives (and most likely if you’re reading this, you’re in the sprinkler industry… also with the aim of saving lives), both in emergency treatment and also long-term therapies.
In recent times, more and more people need blood/products for their treatment, and fewer people can donate for various reasons. The blood service needs a whopping 135,000 new donors every year to come forward, specifically more young people, black people and priority types (e.g. O-negative). Rob is B-negative, which is pretty rare as only about 1 in 50 people have this type.
Rob says, “I was convinced by a university friend to go in the first place, I can’t even remember why, but that was over 30 years ago now! In those days you got an anaesthetic, which you don’t now but to be honest it rarely hurts as long as I don’t watch the needle going in, and you can’t feel anything at all. There’s a bit of admin and waiting around but the actual donation takes only 10-15 minutes, or a pretty quick 8 minutes today. Over the years I’ve been on a plasma programme, and also a couple of other studies to test and monitor the impact of giving at different frequencies. To be honest, it’s just part of my routine now, I just turn up every three months or so. It’s great to be able to help people, and my blood is suitable for new-borns which is nice to know… but I don’t complain about having to eat the odd custard cream or Club orange either!”
Why not give it a go? You’ve nothing (well, not much) to lose! If you are interested in finding out more, have a look here: www.blood.co.uk