This past Sunday I got a message on my pager - "1734". I knew who it was without having to check. It was the lab, and they needed my blood. A patient scheduled for surgery the next day had a rather low haemoglobin count of 7.3, and it can be risky performing surgery on someone with such a low count.
My one unit (450 mls) flowed out in four minutes and, after the customary photo of me holding my blood, was taken to the patient. And after the unit of my blood, his haemoglobin count jumped up nearly three points to 10.2 - much healthier!It's always a privilege and so fulfilling - especially as a non-medical person - to be able to donate blood and serve the Hospital in this way. This was my 5th blood donation on the Africa Mercy. I donated twice in Liberia in 2008, once in Benin (2009), once in Togo (2010) and once now in Sierra Leone! Here's to many more blood donations into the future!
With my unit of O-Pos blood.