Volunteer Stories

Much is expected of those to whom much has been given
I was killed in an automobile accident late on Mother’s Day 1988 while returning from Charleston to Norfolk where the ship I commanded was in overhaul. I didn’t know that until weeks after the event. I do remember waking up in a dark room, I was cold, in incredible pain, and could hear screams from another room. I laid there for some time and a woman dressed in white, I assume a nurse, came into the room. I asked “Where am I?” She responded “Who are you?” My answer satisfied her and she told me that I was in the intensive care unit of Norfolk Sentara Hospital and that I had been seriously injured in an accident. My immediate concern resolved, I went to sleep and in the morning a team of doctors assembled and decided that I was sufficiently stable to be transferred to the Navy Hospital in Portsmouth, VA. I found out later from friends that my patient status had been “He died” three times in the week before I woke up.
Support from family and friends and I am sure blood donors helped me battle through the serious injuries and multiple surgeries to confound those who predicted that even though I wouldn’t stay dead, I would never walk again. I left that hospital 29 days after the accident and after a relatively short period of rehabilitation on limited duty, continued my Navy career, retiring as a Captain from command of a base in CA in 1995.
It was shortly after taking command in July 1993, that I became eligible to donate blood. For the prior 25+ years, I had spent so much time at sea and traveling to foreign ports that I had never been outside of the deferral window for having taken anti-malarial drugs. I started donating in Riverside, CA on an every eight-week basis as a way to give back for what I had received during my recovery. Soon, others from my base were also donating. When I retired in 1995 and moved to WA State, I continued to donate whole blood.
One day one of the nurses at the Richland donation center told me about apheresis and I was hooked or hooked-up on a regular basis. Every two weeks I was connected while watching an education DVD or movie. My iron and platelet counts are high and support triple unit donations on a regular basis. Except for a year plus deferral after cancer surgery in 2007, I have hit my max donor target every year. Why do I still do it at 65? I can and it matters. Much is expected of those to whom much has been given. This is just one way that I work to give back to the community of all the great gifts that I have been given. One other item to note, I have had both hips and one knee replaced since 2000. My doctor is the same one that headed up the Navy team that put me back together in 1988 in VA. This serves as a constant reminder of why I should donate, Edward.

I started volunteering to donate blood at the age of 19, just because someone called me on the phone and asked. I kept it up all these years, many times without even thinking about why I did it. I am now 54, and since the death of my younger sister a little over a year ago, I have become more sensitive to the gift of life. I don't know who I help with my donation - I don't want to - but I now think "You know, this could be one of my family members." Distant or close, blood relative or not,what we choose to do with our lives - and our blood - makes a difference to someone who IS a close relative to someone else. How can I withhold this precious gift when my family has been, and may be in the future, in need of this life-saving resource?

I always had a fear of needles. Not just for like sewing and stitching, but also blood blood and injections. I feared having things like flu shots the most just because I get so paranoid of what is going into my body. Also, getting my blood tests was pretty frightening as well, just because I thought i was going to die. Then, coming into Junior year, I had set goals for myself. One of the top was to face my biggest fears. I chose to get my blood drawn at the red cross blood drive at my high school, Hayward High. I later found out, after my donation, that I was the O positive blood type. I had learned in Health/CSI my freshman year that O blood types were very special. O negative can give to all blood types, but can only receive blood from O negative. O positive can give to any positive blood type, whether O, A, B or AB, and can only receive from O positive. So I thought to myself, "I'm healthy and alive. But there are many others who need blood and are on the verge of death because of it." I finally accepted the challenge i gave myself! About 7 minutes and, just like that, done! I now want to donate again and very soon. Plus, they gave me a valued donor card so that I won't after to fill out the paperwork again, which is a relief.

I helped out during hurricane katrina
certified Phlebotomy Technician 1

I gave blood for the first time at my school blood drive in my junior year of high school. It was not a good experience. My needle slipped out and my blood got contaminated with air so they couldn't use it. I almost passed out and got really sick. I really wanted to make a difference. I had gotten word of another blood drive later in the year and i was super excited to go back and try again. I signed up and when I gave blood for the second time it was an amazing experience! I just recently had the opportunity to give another donation and I felt so awesome afterwards. It is a good feeling to know that with such a small sacrifice I can save lives. Just because you don't have a good experience the first time does not mean they will all be bad. I weigh about 112. Just enough to donate and I will jump at every chance I get. Please let my story persuade those of you that have been scared to donate again give you the courage to try it! Lives will be saved with the blood you give.