“To put things in perspective, up to three lives are saved with one blood donation!

With barely any shut-eye for 24 hours owing to jet lag, only two hours of sleep to be exact, I arrived promptly at 8 a.m. for the Blood Service Awarding Ceremony of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Mindanao Regional Blood Center, Misamis Oriental-Cagayan de Oro chapter. Although my keynote speech was item XII in the XVIII-part program, I wanted to arrive before the awardees. This was to be the one significant day in the year when the Red Cross makes especially sure blood donors know that their donation is much appreciated and vital in saving lives. I did not want to keep a single one of them waiting.

If you have ever been in a health or medical situation where you or someone you know has needed a blood transfusion, there is little doubt that you would agree with the Red Cross phrases: “Donate blood. Save lives,” and “Every blood donor is a hero! Be a hero! It’s in your blood!”

There were group, institution and university awardees and many individual recipients. The quantity of their blood donations ranged from the Galloner to the Blood Services Platinum Award category.

A Galloner is a blood donor who has given a minimum of nine donations of 450cc or 4,000cc. A Blood Services Platinum Award is given to a blood donor who has given 150 times or 37,000cc of blood, whichever comes first. In between these two categories are the Bronze, Silver and Gold medal levels.

For the 2018 Blood Galloners award alone, there were 172 recipients for this particular Red Cross Blood Center. Equally impressive are the groups, universities and institutions who have supported the PRC from one to 10 years and from 50 blood units donated to 1,000 units of blood cumulative. To put things in perspective, up to three lives are saved with one blood donation! I was most definitely honored to be in the company of heroes that day.

It’s the season of giving and if you should so be inclined, it may be worth your while to visit your nearest Red Cross blood center. It could be one of the best gifts one can ever give back to humanity.