Facing my fears is what some of these challenges is all about, this was a dual one. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't like needles or blood.....so what better way to face both in one go than to donate blood.
In the past the sight of a drop of blood has made me feel a little queezy, and even my doctor has notes on his system that I suffer from white coat syndrome, which basically means every time that I go in a medical situation my blood pressure spikes, so why would I put myself through something like this?
There's the obvious reason that it's a good thing to do, I was told by Romy, the nurse who saw me and is amazing at her job, that my blood could save up to three lives. That is something that I can't comprehend in full, knowing that a part of me will literally save lives, can there be any greater gift to give anyone? The NHS is one of the best things going in Britain today and if I can do my part, no matter how small then it's a worthwhile cause.
So that's the general good reason I did it, the completely 100% selfish part is that, and to sound like a quote from a Rocky movie (complete side note but my favourite Rocky film is Rocky III, with Mr T predicting pain), I wanted to conquer my fears, they've always been there, in the back of my head gnawing away at me. They feel like limits that I shouldn't have and if I face them head on then they will have no hold over me.
I know everyone out there has something there afraid of. For some it's clowns (I'm thinking of you there Ash) for some it's water, some it's sock puppets.....sorry I'm watching The Simpsons while I'm writing this. So blood is my big one and yes I know I love a good horror film but we all know that's fake blood, when it comes to the real thing I don't do well. I've had to deal with a few incidents in my working career, I can't forget the time I saw a man smash a bottle on the edge of a table and then dig the broken bottle into someone's thigh.....Luton really was a classy place to live and work. The amount of blood that night nearly made me feint on the spot, I often wonder if that bloke was ok in the long run and how long in prison the guy got.
And I'm back in the room, so me and blood is not a good combination, but I wasn't going to back down. The new me sets himself a goal and hits it. I have to say at this point that I'd read some stories of people feinting and some more serious issues, something I probably shouldn't of done but any fear I had evaporated as soon as I got to the centre. The staff were amazing, and after I told them about the list and how I was facing my fears they were fully on board, they even found the placard that's behind my head in the picture. So after a finger prick to test my iron levels, which in all honesty hurt more than the actual needle, it was done and I was sitting there for a while being drained of 472ml of life saving blood.
Did I enjoy it? No. Would I do it again? You bet you're sweet ass I'm going to. If I can do my little bit to help humanity then I'm going to. Have I conquered my fear? No but it's a massive step forward and that's what the new me is all about, trying to be a little bit better every day.
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