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Our Blood Donation Challenge

Our Blood Donation Challenge

I began my blood donation journey in 2019 while I was out walking around Darling Harbour one sunny afternoon. The mobile blood bank was there and I stopped by to see what blood donation was all about.

The staff were extremely friendly and welcoming. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect - cape-wearing vampires perhaps?

After a series of questions about my age, health and overall general well-being, they told me that I am a perfect Plasma Donor candidate. That meant however, they could not take my donation at the mobile unit as it requires a specialised machine and that I should make an appointment at a Life Blood Centre to donate my plasma.

After a couple of weeks, I made my first appointment quickly followed by two more donations through to the end of 2019.

Christmas 2019 came and went and January 2020 arrived.


I had booked another donation appointment however on the 11th of February 2020 I contracted Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome - a severe shingles infection in the middle ear.

I had to cancel my donation appointment along with everything else in my life at the time.

Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome causes extreme pain, deafness and tinnitus and of course, facial paralysis. My face drooped and I looked like a stroke victim as well as being unable to blink, eat properly or even speak clearly.

Turns out some time later a Canadian guy named Justin Beiber contracted the same thing. Don’t know why HE made the news, my infection was worse than his!

It also meant I could not donate plasma until the infection settled.

Turns out, it wasn’t such a huge deal because twelve days later on the 23rd of February 2020, the Prime Minster announced the first nationwide lockdown for the COVID Pandemic.

We all remember THAT time stuck at home watching Gladys on the TV at 11am giving us an update while we were guessing what was really happening in the world by the colour of the jacket she was wearing that day!

Recovery from Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome was a very long, very slow process using antiviral medication and steroids.

I still could not donate Plasma due to the steroids I was taking even after the COVID lockdowns were lifted.

Fast-forward to 2024, my recovery is complete and I am stable and managing well. So I called Life Blood and made another appointment and started donating Plasma again.

The staff at Life Blood are truly amazing. They make the whole process as comfortable and easy as possible. One needle in the arm and the machine takes over… and not a vampire in sight.

Plasma Donation takes around an hour and a bit, a little longer than a regular blood donation and it is easy. You just lay back in the recliner and squeeze the little foam thingy to keep the blood circulating.

The best part of the donation process is the chocolate malt milk shake they give you afterwards. And the chocolate Freddos, meat pies, sausage rolls, raisin toast, cheese & crackers and a whole host of other snacks. I did ask for a vodka soda with lime, but I’m still waiting for that.

There’s enough time left this year to make another donation which I will do before Christmas.

The Red Cross is always in need of donations.

So here’s Our Blood Donation Challenge to you...

Show us your latest Donation Record on the Life Blood app on your phone and if it was made between your last appointment and your next appointment with us at Disappear Laser Clinic + Tattoo Removal, we’ll give you a
20% discount
on your treatment. Simple as that.

Donate today and save 20% - What could be simpler?


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Our Blood Donation Challenge

Show us your latest Donation Record on the Life Blood app on your phone and we’ll give you a 20% discount on your treatment. Simple as that

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