Nothing separates the men from the boys like a blood drive. \”The number one excuse students tell me for why they won’t donate is because they don’t like needles. I say back to them, \’You know what? People don’t like dying’. Some of us have to make small sacrifices to help other people, and I think the blood drive is a great thing,” Mr. Nolan said.
\”Over 100 students will give blood,” said Patrick Wyszynski, one of the senior coordinators for the drive. However, \”there seemed to be a lack of teacher donors due to a faculty Christmas party after school,” Mrs. Woyteck said disappointingly. Could the blood drive have been better with their participation? We leave that for their conscience to decide.
For the students that gave blood, blood pressure and heart rates were noticeably higher because of nerves, at least for the rookies. Sean McCann, a first time donor, said \”I’m a little bit nervous, but it’s pretty similar to my nerves before a CYO game. The butterflies are good, and you know what they say, pressure makes diamonds.” Blake Yoho, another first time donor, had some complications. \”When they put the needle in the vein, the blood started flowing, but it immediately stopped. The nurses tried to fix it, but they were unsuccessful in being able to let me keep donating blood. It felt really weird, and I was panicking, but I’m cool now,” Blake said. But that won’t hold him back from trying again next time.
For the successful donors, the process wasn’t too long, and the nurses were great. Some students were even successful in getting their parents to donate and were given M4O points accordingly.
The feeling of a successful blood donation is immediately rewarding. \”I’m feeling pretty good… I saved three lives,” Sean McCann said after he donated. Not only did the students who participated today save lives, but they also got some cool stickers, and if this isn’t enough to convince you to donate next semester, then I don’t know what else will.
Thank you to the guys who donated this time around, thank you to all the nurses, and thank you to all of the Ignatians who helped run the drive. God bless.
