It’s Friday night and I’m watching Celebrity Gogglebox on tv. I’m laughing at some hilarious comments, but then I’m crying as we hear stories of people with cancer. The devastation that that evil, cruel disease causes is heartbreaking. Stand Up To Cancer claws at the heartstrings as we watch Daniel vlog his battle with cancer. He found lumps in his side and has surgery to have them removed, but then with his mother sobbing uncontrollably beside him he tells us that the surgery didn’t work and the prognosis isn’t good. In the next vlog entry Daniel is so much thinner and has the look of a dying man. He isn’t ready to die as there are so many things he still wants to do, but he can’t because he is in so much pain and feeling so weak. The celebrities are crying and I am crying as we hear that Daniel died aged thirty two.
The number for donating money for cancer research comes up on the screen. Yes…give money but don’t stop there! Blood. Plasma. Platelets. When we give money to all these big charities we don’t actually see where it really goes. We are told ‘research’, but what does that mean. Does it pay a salary? Does it buy equipment? Does it build labs? Yes, I know it helps, but I’m not told where my five pounds has gone.
On the 18th October I donated platelets for the first time. It is known as the golden donation as platelets are yellow in the bag. Today I found out that my golden donation helped someone at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Oh, whoever decided that sending a text to tell you where your donation has gone is genius. That simple text makes you feel great. My platelets have been used and hopefully improved someone’s life. I have physically made a difference.
So what are you waiting for…sign up to donate. Give money if you can, but give a real piece of you! Give blood or give platelets. The money will help with research for tomorrow but the blood and platelets will help with the pain and suffering of today.
need2bleed 