Why you’re better than 32% of most people

By Ian Seth Levine, Volunteer

I'm not going to try to convince you to donate blood. There's something so sacred about blood that we create folklore centered on creatures taking it from us: the German Alp, the Jewish Lilitu, the Latin American Chupacabra. While these creatures aren't real, our fear of losing something valuable is.  And from that fear stems myths not only about losing blood, but also about freely giving it away. For example, many people think that donating blood is an inconvenient, unnecessary, and painful way to contract an exotic and incurable disease. But much like Dracula, these are only myths.

Here are the facts:
A single car accident victim could need up to 100 pints of blood. If we took all of the drivers who crashed their cars last year in Virginia, we could completely pack Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium, PNC Field, and BB&T Ballpark. A person can donate only one pint of blood at a time, so can you really rely on enough people to step up and donate should you need it?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Why? 17% of people surveyed who don't donate blood say it's because they "never thought about it." In other words, if you asked one hundred people to help you after a serious collision, the first seventeen would completely ignore you. Then, an additional fifteen people would tell you they're "too busy.”

I'm not going to presume to know your schedule. I know only my schedule. I teach for two universities, write articles and blog posts for American Red Cross, and run my namesake blog about writing. It took me longer than I'd care to admit, but I'm not as busy as I thought. In between my responsibilities were pockets of down time, which I tended to fill with binge-watching and PinstaSnap BookTube. But in less time than it took to watch an episode of Narcos, even I donated blood.

 

I think blood is fascinating. For example, the milky blue blood of the horseshoe crab is so good at detecting infections it's valued at $14,000 a quart by biomedical companies. Your blood has traces of gold in it. Some insects have violet blood. Dogs have blood types just like humans.

And, if you scheduled an appointment to donate right now, you'd be better than 32% of most people.

How Soccer Star Cristiano Ronaldo Donated Enough Blood to Fill a Car’s Gas Tank

By Ian Seth Levine, Volunteer

Superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has donated enough blood to fill the gas tank of the fortwo-model car from Mercedes-Benz. And just in case he must donate to you or me one day, he has also forsaken alcohol, cigarettes, and tattoos. The likelihood we will need need his blood is stronger than you might think. In the U.S., someone needs blood every two seconds. By the time you finish reading this paragraph, twelve people will need donors like you and me. But we don’t have the same time, money, or energy as Cristiano to warrant regular donations, right? There are only ten steps for donating blood, and the bulk of them is in the preparation. Every time Cristiano prepares to donate blood, he does five things:

1. Make an appointment using Rapid Pass®.

2. Abstain from aspirin for two days before the appointment.

3. Drink an extra 16 oz. of water (or other non-alcoholic drink); and eat a healthy, iron-rich meal --avoiding fatty foods like hamburgers, fries, and ice cream.

4. Bring a list of current medications and a photo ID.

5. Wear a shirt with sleeves that can roll up above the elbows.

Before we even wake up, Cristiano plunges himself into an ice bath. He exercises for four hours a day, five days a week. He sleeps a solid eight hours, eats small meals every two hours, and swelters in twenty-minute baths. He psychs himself up by staring into the mirror. In fact, his teammates say he’s always training. And yet, he still finds eight minutes of his time to donate to patients like Lindsey, Brian, Markita, Niki, and Emily.

Source: Singapore Red Cross “BE THE 1” campaign

Cristiano is worth $450 million. It’s easy to say that (unlike him) we can’t afford to lose money from missing work. However, many employers allow their employees up to four hours to donate blood without charge to leave or loss of pay. So, depending upon your employer, step six could be a fantastic opportunity to donate (and possibly get paid for doing so). Compensated or not, Cristiano has been donating whole blood every fifty-six days for the last nine years. That’s over seven gallons of whole blood.  Join him, and…

6. Donate.

Although Cristiano is in his thirties, his teammates say he has the energy of a man ten years younger.  It might seem that as a star athlete, he can expel more energy than you and me. But with Rapid Pass® from the American Red Cross, you can schedule your donation faster than it takes him to finish his patented ab workout. And before you can say “World Cup”, you’ll be completing the final four steps of blood donation:

Source: Men's Health UK

7. Enjoy a snack.

8. Tell others about your good deed.

9. Abstain from heavy lifting or vigorous exercise for the rest of the day.

10. Call 1-866-236-3276 to report additional health information or request medical care after donation.

For more information and to schedule an appointment to donate blood: www.redcrossblood.org.