Giving blood..

[turkey154]

I'm 17 on saturday..yey! so that means i amthen old enough to give blood. my mum does this and i have been along with her a few times and i think it is a wonderful thing as it isnt just used to horrible accidents but in childbirth and cancer treatment. what i wanted to know is how many of you give blood? if you do, why? and if you dont also why not?

[shaz-rla]

Nect4r, I have A - blood !  I didn't realise it was rare(ish) !! Must make the attempt more often to go and give it.

[Narolines]

I've been a blood donor for some years.  Picking up on what nect4r said, the blood service is always short of the more common groups, particularly O positive (my group, along with the world and his dog!). Obvious when you think about it - there are far more O+ people than any other group, so there's bound to be more demand, but we tend to think that there's plenty of it and the rarer groups are more needed.  ALL blood groups are needed - go for it, turkey!

[lady_p_gold]

I have tried to give blood but my arm comes up in a big egg and they have to stop.  However .... I would just like to say thank you to all those who manage successfully to do it as it saved my life when I have five pints of blood when I suffered internal bleeding after an ectopic pregnancy and nearly died. I would not be here today if someone had not done that.

[spainlads]

I'm a gay man and they wouldn't touch my blood with a barge pole, does anyone know why?? The largest group in the world with HIV or AIDS are hetrosexual. They CLAIM they test for things like that anyway. Or can you catch being gay throw a blood transfussion :)

[larakitten]

Hi there, I used to give blood coz my cousin was in an accident and had 60 pints of blood pumped thru him to try and save him.  Sadly he didnt make it, however if those people hadnt given blood, we could never have tried.

I went twice, and fainted both times......what a lightweight.  The nurses were fab tho, but told me to stop giving blood until i bulk up a bit.  For goodness sake, Im 26, not gonna bulk up now i guess!!  So sadly coz im really skinny, I can no longer do my bit.

Just gonna work on my hubby to go for me......!

Good luck hon!!

x

[Gollum_4]

My mum gives blood and so does her boyfriend.When I am old enougth I might but I am noit too sure. The first time you go you have to have some blood samples taken out of your thumb and it is meant to hurt really really badly. My mum said the pain lasted a whole week. I think you should still give blood though because it is a good thing to do, saving lives. Especially if you have a rare blood type. It will make you feel like a hero.

[Twincle]

I' ve been a donor for many years as a "payback" for when my son had a bike acident and his life was saved by donated blood. OK I used to hate needles but it's not so bad- I even feel better afterwards as it seems to get rid of tension in your body. I'm nearly 60 and still go and will as long as I am able.

[dribfunk]

Happy birthday and yes, I do.  Since I was 17!

I do it as I feel that it's a nice way of giving something back to those that need it.  I guess it gives me a sense of charity without costing me anything.

Funnily enough, I have problems with carrying a donor card - despite my nephew recently having a kidney transplant.