Donate blood, Donate love

Blood donation is when a person voluntarily donates his blood which may help others in their time of need. It may be donated as a whole or as different components. It is a social cause that has always been close to my heart.

Today is blood donor day and I am reminded of an incident from my college days when I was eager to donate blood and help people as I had seen my father donate his blood as and when he could. So when a blood donation campaign was organised in my college, I along with some of friends went to donate our blood for which I even skipped class of my favourite teacher. After waiting for 15 minutes, a young doctor approached our group and asked us to fill a declaration form. Thereafter we were directed towards an area where we had to get our body weights checked as only the ones with minimum accepted weight for blood donation were sent for further steps. By this time, my heart was already set on gulab jamuns blood donors were going to get. I was praying with all my heart to meet the minimum weight criteria so that two of my wishes could get fulfilled that day.

When it was my turn to get the weight checked, the nurse present at the station looked at me, lifted my sweater a little and chuckled and said that I definitely weighed less than the accepted weight for blood donation. Her comment hit my spirits hard but unfortunately she was right. As I weighed less than the required body weight I was not allowed to donate blood which by extension also meant that I would not get those yummy gulab jamuns. And sadly I have never been able to reach the minimum weight required for blood donation.

My desire to donate blood, though partially, is fulfilled as my husband regularly donates blood. He is O+ which is considered the most needed blood type and is given to patients more than any other blood type. He has been donating blood for many years and this makes me happy and proud. But there was an incident last year that made me realize that look donation should not be taken for granted. All the instructions before or after the donation should be followed religiously as ignoring them may harm the donor.

Last summer, it was our ritual to go for a swim in the pool in our society club which was a wonderful respite from the hot sunny days. One evening, my husband, our son and I were enjoying our time in the swimming pool. After a good one hour in there, I brought my son out whereas my husband decided to stay in the pool a little while longer. After half an hour when he came out of the pool, I went to meet a friend at the other side of the pool.

As I was coming back after a little chitchat with her, I saw my husband on the poolside floor. Thinking he was probably looking for his car keys, I did not pay much attention. As I came closer, I saw my husband fainting and falling near the pool. I tried to grab him and he uttered a few words which I couldn't understand. It was getting dark and there were less people at the pool. In the next few seconds, he fainted again, that's when I got really scared and yelled for help. Some people came running and tried to revive him. As he regained consciousness, he told me that he had donated blood that day and had not eaten anything after that. One of the concerned onlookers went to the nearby shops and got him a beverage. There was a little child who had just returned from a party and he gave my husband a snack box which he had got as a return gift which after having, my hubby felt better.

On inquiring upon this irresponsible behaviour on his part, he later told me that when he was in the process of donating blood, he got an urgent work related call and left the hospital without eating anything they had offered him post blood donation. After that day, he vowed to not to ever repeat this mistake as it poses a threat to his life.

For anybody who donates blood, it is mandatory to drink extra fluids, eat something healthy and nourishing and avoid strenuous physical activities for a few days. One may donate blood after a gap of 90 days but if you want, you may wait longer.

Blood donation is a noble cause which doesn't harm the donor if precautions are taken before and after the process. It keeps the blood donor healthy and reduces risk of cancer and damage to liver and pancreas.  Your kindness can help save so many lives. A huge number of people die because of lack of availability of blood. If we all do our bit, we can save so many people from unfortunate deaths.