For second-year psychology student Kharifa Young, a
blood-donating veteran, there is no greater sight than the
collection bag being filled up with her own blood. As she watches
the blood level rise, her spirits rise as well because she knows
she is making an effort to help others.
Giving blood is a simple process that lasts an hour and offers
one important reward: the potential to save up to three lives.
According to the Web site for the American Red Cross, healthy
people who are over the age of 17 and weigh at least 110 pounds are
eligible to donate blood and help fulfill the increasing demand for
the precious fluid.
The number of blood donors has gone up in recent years because
people have realized the importance of giving blood, said Teresa
Solorio, public affairs manager for the Southern California Blood
Region of the American Red Cross.
“Sometime in their lives, someone they love or even they
themselves will need that blood,” she said.
While different people have different stories about how and why
they started giving blood, many students say their ultimate goal is
to help save a life. Some started giving blood the moment they
turned 17.
“I feel like I’ve contributed to someone’s
life,” said Mercy Malick, a donor at the UCLA Blood and
Platelet Center who has given blood over 50 times.
“You might walk down the street without knowing if the
person you walk past is someone you helped save,” she
said.
Others are like 20-year-old Rita Miller, who donates for a
family friend who is going to have surgery. She gives blood because
she personally knows someone who needs it.
“Giving blood for someone I know is definitely different
from just donating blood to a bank,” Miller said. “I
feel a sense of urgency this time.”
The experience of blood receivers whose lives have been changed
because of donations serve to confirm many donors’
determination to save lives, said Gary Lizitsky, a 54-year-old
white blood cell cancer survivor who required the use of 184 units
of donated blood to fight his disease.
“Without the blood donors, I would have been dead six
years ago from non-Hodgkin lymphoma because I wouldn’t have
had enough blood during my bone marrow transplant,” Lizitsky
said.
Some people donate because of stories they have heard, as in the
case of Jose Garza, the operations manager at the UCLA Anderson
School of Management. He heard about a motorcycle accident victim
who received donated blood and lived, and then Garza felt compelled
to give.
“During his time (in the hospital), he used 92 units of
blood and survived,” Garza said.
Incentives such as drawings for $500 American Express gift
certificates during the months of October and November are being
implemented to encourage people, especially students, to donate,
Solorio said.
“College students are so important for blood
donations,” Solorio said. “One out of five donors is a
high school or college student.”
Yet only 5 percent of the eligible U.S. population donates
blood. Solorio said many people are concerned about the impact of
donating and harbor common misconceptions such as the fear of
gaining weight, acquiring a blood-borne disease or, most
prevalently, facing the needle.
“If people could just get over that little fear of
needles, they could actually save lives,” Solorio said.
The increase in blood donors is not enough to match the increase
in the need for blood. The deficit is reflected in the importation
of 40 percent of blood from outside the region, Solorio said.
“We’re supposed to have a five- to seven-day supply
of blood on the shelves at any time, but we actually have only
three-quarters of a day of O-negative blood and two days of
O-positive blood,” Solorio said.
With the demand for blood increasing, it is becoming even more
important to offer a little bit of one’s time and blood to
help save the life of another, Lizitsky said.
“It is absolutely safe and requires a very small period of
time, but the blood one donates is worth more than any amount of
money,” he said.