Every 12 weeks I usually head to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service to donate blood. The whole procedure takes about an hour and afterwards, a small snack of chocolate, tea, cream biscuits, cheese and crackers are provided to volunteer donors. In Australia, blood donors are volunteers and do no receive renumeration for their donation. And I certainly don’t do it for the chocolate.

I initially made my first donation to get over my fear of needles. It didn’t work. I’m still afraid of needles and injections but I still go back. I continue to volunteer knowing that my donation is going to keep someone alive. That is more than enough incentive for me to keep returning. In addition to this I have also registered on the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry as a potential bone marrow donor. This became the case soon after a family member was diagnosed with leukaemia. Thankfully they have recovered and lead a normal and healthy life.

The surprising thing about this appointment was that it was quite difficult for me to get in. Many people had rung up and made appointments to donate blood in response to the recent bushfires in Victoria. That’s fantastic news in itself. There’s always a shortage of blood and blood products. I really do hope that people realise that the need for blood and blood products is a continuous one, and some blood products have a short shelf life. A once off donation isn’t enough unfortunately and the supply needs to be staggered over the coming months to maintain a steady supply.

I’ve made my next appointment scheduled for May.