When Hannah moved back to Austin, it wasn’t long before she began donating blood with her father, Paul. In fact, it was only two days after her return home that she found herself waving at her father from the donation bed across the room of our North Lamar donor center.
This shared experience means a lot to Hannah and Paul.
Hannah was excited to get back into the habit of donating blood. She says of blood donation, “It’s the easiest thing you can do to help the most amount of people.”
While Hannah donates whole blood, Paul is a platelet donor, donating through a specialized process where platelets are filtered from whole blood via an apheresis machine, returning red blood cells and plasma. Though they differ in how they donate, they plan their appointments to end around the same time, allowing them to meet up in the canteen and share cookies and quality time.
Hannah and Paul find it easier to carve out time to regularly donate by making it a family activity. Paul shares, “It’s easy to forget to donate. But as a family, it becomes something that you can do together and remind each other.”
The Impact of Regular Donations
As a local paramedic, Hannah knows that when tragedy strikes, it is blood that is already on hand that is used to treat patients in urgent need. Donations that come in following a critical event extremely helpful in replenishing the community blood supply and supporting continued treatment and recovery of those impacted. But this fact, highlights why regular blood donations are so impactful.
“I think it’s really important for there to be regular donations because when something catastrophic happens, they can’t use the blood that you are going to give. They can only use the blood that has already been donated,” Hannah says, stressing the importance of a stable community blood supply when minutes matter.
Make Donating a Shared Activity
About donating together, Hannah shares, “I really like that because I donate together with my dad, that someone else might get to spend more time with theirs.”
This June and throughout the year, we invite you to take inspiration from Hannah and Paul and grab a family member or friend to make regular blood donations an activity you can share. Doing so, you play a crucial role in ensuring transfusions are available when the unexpected happens, allowing Central Texans more time with their loved ones.
Give another family more time together by scheduling your next appointment today!