I DONATED blood and decided to document the experience so that you will hopefully feel less nervous about doing so.

I’ve never donated blood before, and I must admit, I was nervous. Was the experience nerve-wracking at all? Absolutely not.

Following the data released earlier this year which said that the proportion of regular donors in England aged 17 to 24 has fallen to almost half the rate it was five years ago, I decided to donate as someone who falls in that age category.

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Firstly, I booked my appointment online, as a new donor I had to register, however, it was incredibly quick and easy, I simply provided my full name, date of birth, and address, before booking a slot.

On the fated day, I turned up at my scheduled time, before being handed a form to complete to ensure that it would be safe for myself, and the person/people who would receive my blood.

Simultaneously, I gulped down a pint of water like a frog, which helps to prevent your blood pressure from dropping, as well as compensate for the fluids lost after donation.

After waiting there for no more than 10 minutes, I sat down in a private booth with a donor nurse to discuss my health history, such as prescription medication, operations, hospital stays and breaking my pinkie toe five years ago. 

When the nurse decided it was safe to proceed, my haemoglobin levels were checked. My finger was pricked to drop some of my blood into a copper sulphate solution to check my levels were high enough to donate.

Unlucky for me, my blood did not sink, which meant I had to have my finger pricked a second time and tested with a machine that provided an accurate reading, my iron was high enough, so onto the next stage I went.

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This involved sitting in a chair that if I squinted resembled the barber’s chair from a production of Sweeney Todd, alas, I did not meet the demon barber, instead, I met an extremely pleasant young man who proceeded to entertain a conversation about cinema with me as he checked the veins in my arm whilst proclaiming that no modern film could match the hilarity of The Hangover trilogy.

The needle went into my arm, and it was one of those highly anticlimactic moments where you go, ‘Oh, was that it?’.

The most awkward part of the entire process was probably the instructed exercises I had to do as the blood was draining my arm, which involved clenching my buttocks and swinging my leg in the air like a Pilates instructor whilst my eyes were darting around the room to make sure everyone was also doing their silly little exercises.

After that, it was over, the needle was removed from my arm, and my blood was taken away to be used for bigger and better things. My dressing was applied, and I was delivered a choice of a sweet or savoury snack, of which I chose sweet because obviously, I deserved a treat for that.

My only gripe with any part of the process was the fact that I did not receive a sticker at the end, however the KitKat, mint Club bar and blackcurrant squash made up for it.

I didn’t write this story to show off my bravery or anything like that, but rather to try and inspire you to donate blood if you are able, more information is available about donation on the blood.co.uk website.