In October 2010 last I signed up for the Irish Blood Transfusion Service's platelet donation programme (I blogged about that here). Today I hit the 50 donation mark for which the IBTS has an award of a gold drop (in the shape of a blood drop). I already have both the silver and gold pelican pins which I got many years ago for (I think) 15 and 25 donations respectively.
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| Image link to GiveBlood.ie. |
In addition to hitting the 50 donation mark, I also join a select club in my family. Both my Dad Joe, and brother Joe are the proud holders of gold drops for 50 donations. They did it the hard way - mostly donating at mobile clinics, while I have easier access to permanent clinics in Dublin. Also - as platelet donations take a long time (I was in the clinic for nearly two hours today), each donation counts as two due to the time and the amount they can take. So I was fast-tracked to 50 so-to-speak. Nevertheless I'm glad to do this - it is a very pleasant experience, the staff at the clinic are wonderful and I think I'll keep going back for more.
Why not consider donating - check out the IBTS Give Platelets page for more information.
I made good use of my time in the clinic by watching two lectures on Justice by Professor Michael Sandel of Harvard University on my iPad. I watched Episode 2 of a free series of lectures - this one was about putting a price tag on life and how to measure pleasure. Well worth checking out - and FREE too!
hi euge,congratulations now that you hhave reached 50 donations [on the fastract method] i am sure you will reach for the next big milestone which is 100 go for it. regards joe.
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