Eight years ago if you would have asked me if I would donate blood, like my mother does, my answer would have been something along the lines of “Eww no” and “Sounds painful”. Today, if you asked me to donate blood for a stranger who needed it, I would say “Of course”. Eight short years ago, a few words changed my entire view of life within one year. I was ten and a half years old, never letting anyone miss the half, when I had first heard of some news that would change my life forever. I was living with a narcissistic state of mind, caring only about when I would enjoy my next pack of skittles and worrying only about whether or not the boy in my class liked me back.
On an October evening, some friends and family had noticed a change in me. I was losing weight, drinking water often, and having to use the bathroom even more often than I was drinking. To a child, it felt as though nothing was the matter. Life was as easy as ever, classes had just begun, and we were only in the first quarter of school, so it was still almost painless for me to wake up in the morning. One day, I had felt surprisingly unwell, I hadn’t slept hardly at all because of how cold I felt, and my thirst couldn’t be quenched. After a while, my father decided it was well over time for me to go to the hospital. I hardly remember what happened besides the diagnosis, realistically it was all I heard. “It is diabetes”.
“What is diabetes” I thought, I wondered who had it and how much candy they had to eat in order to get a disease like that. I vaguely recalled hearing about a girl a year younger than me having something betes. Luckily, soon afterwards, my misconceptions were cleared, I had it, and it wasn’t because of candy or anything I had done. I learned that my pancreas just got tired and gave up. I luckily never needed blood or an organ in this beginning process, for my blood was fine, it was just lacking a key component. In this situation I recall my mother saying that she’d give me her pancreas, and that it would be fine, right? My mother would lend her heart to anyone that needed it. Because of this, I wanted to be like her, I wanted to save lives, but I always thought I couldn’t, I’d never be able to, because I was the one who needed saving.
Years passed by like minutes, nothing changing, I never knew I could donate blood, until the Oklahoma Blood Institute came to my school taking volunteers. I thought that I couldn’t do anything because my blood was not “normal”. But luckily, I could, and I can, and I will. I am seventeen years old, and there is nothing I enjoy more than the feeling of knowing that I am saving lives every single time I donate. Donating blood has changed my life, it has made me so grateful for everything I have, while being aware of what I don’t. Blood donation is more than just saving lives, it is about saving yourself.