I first donated blood immediately after 9/11, when a colleague suggested that we go down to the Calgary donor centre. Of course we all soon learned that little in the way of support of that specific kind needed to be rushed to New York City. But I kept donating after that. Discomfort was trivial, the staff were great, and I had the convenience of free parking a few blocks away.
Quite a few years ago, someone at the clinic suggested that I sign up for plasma donation instead of whole blood. At the time I knew so little about the place of plasma in the greater scheme of things that it basically went in one ear and out the other. But the suggestion came around again and I switched several years ago.
Over the years I have had moving experiences related to donation. After the husband of a co-worker died in an auto accident, I became aware that one could “dedicate” a donation to the memory of an individual. I was able to do that, and not long after, I received a note from the man’s young-adult daughter thanking me for taking that step. It was good to have that simple mechanism available to help us mark our general sense of responsibility to one another, something that is very significant within the public mission of Canadian Blood Services and public health care itself.
Another time, when I mentioned to a former student that I was a regular donor, she thanked me on the spot and said that she had been the beneficiary of plasma at one time.
