Today I donated blood for the first time today and I want you to know why. It was not a selfless deed and I don't need any praise for it. I just want people to know the impact two pints of blood can have on not only one, but many lives.
You may not think much about giving a little blood, you may think that it goes to waste or maybe that they have more then enough blood now. If this is what you think, you are wrong. My family has been on the receiving end of a blood transfusion and bone marrow transplant. Five years ago my brother almost died from Leukemia, but his battle started four months ago.
Two days after my sixteenth birthday my brother walked into the emergency room missing four pints of blood. Without the help of blood donors, his fight ends there. A week later, we got the news that he had acute myeloid leukemia. There was nothing we could do. There was no knowing how this battle would end and everything seamed bleak. Around this time five years ago my brother almost died. After a round of chemo he contracted pneumonia, meaning his blood cells stopped retaining blood, his kidneys refused to work, and his heart was extremely damaged (an organ that cannot heal itself). The medication stopped working and all the doctors had lost hope.
There were two things keeping him alive, prayer and other peoples' blood running through his veins. Do you still think that donating blood doesn't make a difference? So today, knowing I had a debt to pay, walked into an icy cold room to give up my very life source so that someone else can have help fighting their own battles. My fear of needles didn't stop me, that fact that every time I get stabbed with a needle I almost pass out didn't stop me, so what is stopping you?
I get it, you're fighting your own battles, but what would you give to have a little help? We as a species survive if we help each other. It's when we block out others that we lose the war. There is no such thing as survival of the fittest. We need each other; the weak, the strong, the smart, the strong, the beautiful, the brave. Individually, we are in inadequate Together we create this beautiful, diverse masterpiece.
What happens when the Mona Lisa's smile is taken away? What happens if they did a test on her and found out that she was not painted in 1503, but instead painted in 1920 by a guy named Fred? It is not just about this priceless piece of art, it is every individual aspect coming together and creating something that da Vinci himself never could have dreamed of. We need the weak and broken people in the world, we need to help them, we need to give them hope. Why? Without hope we have nothing. My brother survived an event that most don't. We give credit to God, prayers, amazing nurses, and people who were willing to do a seemingly meaningless act that in turn save my brothers life.
He has now gone on to pay it forward in his own way. He is now a nurse and changes lives everyday. As a business major I can't really do the same, but as a human I can make a difference. It may be a small one, it may only go to research or it could be that bit of life that someone so desperately needed. We can't all be hero's every day, but we can all make a difference in someone else's day. Maybe that's all it really takes to be a hero, give a little blood here, check the organ donor box over there, and give someone something that they couldn't have gotten on their own, a little hope.
Lots of love
SAW
