Anne Warring is a devoted blood donor who says that blood donation is social responsibility and urges people to give blood.
Anne Warring is a devoted blood donor who says that blood donation is social responsibility and urges people to give blood.
"A school friend was a Rhesus baby and received a blood transfusion at birth in the 50s," Anne Warring says. "It saved her life."
Warring began donating blood in 1978, before she moved to Grahamstown. She donated for the 96th time at a South African Blood Services (SANBS) blood drive at Rhodes University.
Warring says even though "one percent of the country donates, 95% might need blood at some point." She encourages blood donation and says "you never know when you will need blood, accidents can happen."
Liezl Barnard from the SANBS marketing department says, "Rhodes is the varsity where most students are willing to donate blood." The SANBS hold blood drives at Rhodes every three months, and each time approximately 200 Rhodes students and staff give to help save lives.
Although Warring admitted that she has no fear when it comes to the process of donating blood, others share the sentiments of Rhodes student Benita Botha, who says that she is "terrified of needles".
For a greater cause
While some would let their fears stop them from donating, Botha did not let this get in the way of doing something for the greater good. "I an AB positive blood type and it’s very rare," Botha says.
While some choose not to donate, others are not able to because of certain medication such as Roaccutane which treats acne. Amy Payne is one of those people who is not permitted to donate, but says she "would donate if [she]could".
Robyn McCormick decided to give blood for the first time because of an advertisement that she had seen depicting a girl who could not be operated on because there was no blood to give her.
Though McCormick admitted that she was "scared of fainting afterwards", Bertie Kommel, a blood donor and volunteer staff member, insists that they have trained nurses for such incidences.
SANBS staff do warn that "blood donors must have eaten a balanced meal in the last four hours before giving blood, or they might faint afterwards".
McCormick did not faint and felt proud afterwards that her blood could be used to save someone’s life.
Another student, Thomas King, is not proud of donating blood as he thinks of it as his duty. "I consider it a social responsibility," he says. "Anyone who can give blood, should."
