🩸 Why I Still Roll Up My Sleeve: The Real Reason I Donate Blood

Spoiler alert: It’s not because I love needles. Or hospital waiting rooms. Or the thrill of having a cookie and juice afterward (though let’s be honest, that’s a solid perk).

I donate blood because people need it. Simple as that. That’s why I started at 18, wide-eyed and idealistic, signing up with the Red Cross because I wanted to help people. Because giving a bit of your time and a bag of your blood can literally save lives. That’s not a metaphor. That’s actual science.

But life, in its infinite plot twists, had something else in store for me.

⸻

⚠️ Enter Hemochromatosis: My Body’s Iron Mismanagement Program

When I was around 20, I got diagnosed with Hereditary Hemochromatosis. Big fancy word, weirdly rare in public conversations, and basically it means this:

My body is way too good at absorbing iron from food. Like, Olympic gold-level good.

Which sounds kind of like a superpower, until it isn’t. Because your body has no natural way to get rid of that excess iron. It starts hoarding it like a squirrel on caffeine, and eventually, it can mess up your organs—liver, heart, joints. You name it, iron’s crashing the party.

Now here’s the kicker: the only real treatment is… bloodletting. Yup. We’re talking medieval-style leeches minus the actual leeches. In modern terms? Regular blood donations.

So donating blood wasn’t just a noble act anymore—it became a medical necessity for me. Which, ironically, disqualified me from donating to the Red Cross. Because my donations were no longer considered “voluntary”—they were therapy. And under Belgian law at the time, that meant my blood had to be destroyed. Tossed. Wasted.

If that sounds like a slap in the face, it was. I’m O-positive, people. Universal donor material. And I’ve got iron-rich premium vintage stock. Every drop of my blood could’ve been saving lives, but instead, it was going down the hospital drain. Literally. And it broke my damn heart.

⸻

❤️ A Second Chance: Back Where I Belong

But then—finally—some good news. A few years ago, the Red Cross and lawmakers realized something: We’re running out of blood. Especially O+. (Yeah, told you you’d guess it.)

The rules changed.

Now, if I agree to do one therapeutic bloodletting at the hospital each year (where the blood still gets discarded), I’m allowed to donate again to the Red Cross the rest of the time. Which means my blood gets used again to help actual people. Just like when I was 18.

Full circle. Feels good.

⸻

🧠 Why Am I Sharing This?

Because maybe you’ve thought about donating, and you haven’t done it yet.

Or maybe you’ve never even considered it, because you assume someone else will.

Well, here’s your sign. There’s no “someone else.” It’s you. It’s me. It’s us.

Blood shortages are very real. And sometimes the people who want to donate the most (hello 👋) aren’t allowed to. So if you’re able to give, please do.

You never know who you might be saving. A stranger. A friend. One day, even yourself.

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📸 Captured & Edited

Shot with: Apple iPhone 14 Max Pro
Edited using: Lightroom Mobile & Skylum Luminar AI
**AI Images: ** Created using Sora & Grok, using my own prompts

All photos are my own work. Dive deeper and explore more on my website or check out my links.

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