THE FIRST BLOOD DONATION SESSION FOR THE YEAR

There was a blood donation drive being held at AEON Permas Jaya. As it was already time for me to give away some of my blood, then I went there in the afternoon.

Everything was over in less than an hour.

Since the event was held in the mall, I was expecting better door gifts for donors. However, I was wrong. It was the usual food/drinks packet given if I go to the hospital.

I decided to reward myself with Teh Tarik and Butter & Kaya Toast at Old Town White Coffee Cafe in the mall. I needed instant food for energy to replace the blood lost. 😀

DONATING BLOOD AT THE HOSPITAL

31st JANUARY 2024 ~ I received a letter back in November 2023 from the Blood Donation Centre of Hospital Sultanah Aminah [HSA], informing me that they had sent my blood for random sampling and found that I belonged to Phenotype rare type group. Prior to that, I was asked to attend a counseling session at the hospital in January. That worried me a lot so I did some research on the Internet and asked two of my doctor friends what it was actually about.

When I went to the hospital for the supposedly counseling session, I was asked first to fill in blood donation form and the officer at the counter told me then only the doctor would explain about the condition I was having. 😉

It was not a counseling session after all but more of a consultation meeting. And I went to donate my blood after that.

I have O group blood but then could be the rare type. The doctor told me the hospital might contact me just in case they need me to donate some more for any emergency cases. I felt like I am a member of the X-Men already.

FOOTNOTE: if you donate blood during a campaign organized by NGO, you could get better goodie bags with more contents inside. 😀

DOING MY BIT FOR SOCIETY

The initial plan was to get fruits from the supermarket at Plaza Pelangi. Then I saw a Blood Donation Drive taking place at the open area of the mall and decided to contribute something to the society.

As I was about to get into my reclining seat, one of the nurses asked whether I am a teacher. So I asked her, how did she know? She told me that one of the nurses on duty is my ex-student of SMK Taman Universiti. I was fortunate enough as I suddenly had someone who had to become a photographer and this time, the whole thing could be documented.

Thanks Ms. Azlina Salam, from SPM batch 2003, for introducing yourself as my ex-student. It is always a pleasure to meet an ex-student after all these years. And thank you for helping me take photographs and she even recorded a video for me.

And there was a bagful of gifts for the donors this time, with all sorts of items inside - mostly food like biscuits, a bun, a cupcake, a mooncake, a bottle of mineral water, 100 Plus in a can and a Milo box drink. Then there were also face masks and a beauty facial mask, a small bottle of hand sanitizer and a red pen. Try to spot the odd one out. 😀

This was the first time I went home with a goodie bag filled with a lot of things inside. I guess if the organizers of Blood Donation Drive could offer something like this all the time, there would be more people coming to participate.