From your veins to theirs: Giving blood as a student

From fresh faces and settings, to new ideas and perspectives, college is a major time of change for everyone. But it’s also an ideal time to develop new interests, habits and routines to carry throughout life – including giving blood.

Only 3% of the eligible Irish population currently give blood – despite the fact that one in four people will need a blood transfusion at some point in their lives. Every year, thousands of patients rely on people like you, so that they can receive vital blood transfusions when undergoing surgery, recovering from cancer, or following a serious accident. To meet this demand, over 3,200 blood donations are needed each week in Ireland.

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) is the body responsible for the national blood supply, and operates blood donation clinics all over the country. Through giveblood.ie – and their collaborations with various student organisations – they’re always calling out for young people to become first-time donors.

Students James Keegan and Isabelle Blum are among those who first started giving blood as part of college events and on-campus clinics.

“When I saw the clinic, I just thought, ‘Why not?’” says Isabelle, a student at UCD. “It was 11 in the morning, and I didn’t have a lecture until half four.”

James got involved through an event that the Neurodivergent Society at TU Dublin’s Tallaght Campus was running – which paired a blood drive with a film showing.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Neurodivergent Society TU Dublin Tallaght Campus (@ndsoctudtc)

“I was very enthusiastic to do it – and drag a few along to it,” James, who is now the chair of the society, tells me. “And we’re planning on dragging more people to do it again this year.”

Both James and Isabelle found the donation process itself to be straightforward.

“They’re very thorough, but they’re so nice and understanding,” says Isabelle. “It didn’t even take that long.”

As James points out, blood donations are often needed “for things people don’t even realise” – with 67% of donations going to cancer patients.

Jessica Heffernan was 14 when she was diagnosed with leukemia.

“My first question was, ‘Am I going to miss school?’” she recalls. “I didn’t even know I was going to lose my hair, or what was going to happen.

“I’d say I had hundreds of bags of blood, throughout that two and a half years,” she continues. “I needed platelets especially.”

Five years later, just after her Leaving Cert, Jessica was diagnosed with another form of leukemia.

“I had to live off more blood transfusions again, and I had to have a bone marrow transplant,” she says. “My brother wasn’t a match, so they went to the registry, and thankfully found a lovely man that donated his blood marrow. And that saved my life.”

When Isabelle donated blood for the first time, she also decided to be put on the bone marrow registry.

“Just before I started college, my mum had a relative pass away from leukemia, and there actually wasn’t any bone marrow on the registry that was a match for him,” she says of her decision to register. “If you’re on it you may never be called. It’s a bit like jury duty, I suppose!”

On the day of our conversation, Isabelle has just given blood for the third time – and she intends to make donations part of her normal routine as she progresses through life.  As both she and James agree, beginning to donate as a student – before you’re juggling full-time jobs and other responsibilities – is ideal. It’s also more important for young people to get involved than ever, as Ireland’s donor base is getting older.

“There’s no synthetic substitute for blood,” Isabelle points out. “Patients rely solely on human donations. Some people think it’s too much effort, but it’s not. I went this morning, and it took less than an hour.’

“My first blood donation went to St. James’s, which is actually where the relative of mine passed away – so I felt that was like a little message from the universe,” she adds. “My second donation went to the hospital in Portlaoise. They don’t disclose anything about the patient, but I still find getting that bit of information really wholesome.

“So don’t give it a second thought,” she concludes. “Even one donation can save up to three lives.”

• First-time donors can now book their first appointment online. To become a donor, or to check your eligibility, go to giveblood.ie