A first time blood donor faces the needle, and finds out that giving blood not only saves lives, it’s quick and easy. The best part is, he captured the whole experience on video.
With more than 3,000 views so far, the HSA hopes those who see it will also find the courage to save a life.
“I’ve wanted to give blood for a long time, but I was scared. Giving blood involves needles, the chance you might faint, and blood,” said Marc Williams, an HSA Accountant.
Mr. Williams is also editor, cinematographer, and protagonist of a new video that gives an intimate, first-hand portrait of what its like to be a first-time blood donor.
“I decided to do it for the internet, and for science,” he said in the self-produced video.
Enter his co-star, the effervescent Jheanel Morgan-Heslop, also a blood bank medical technician.
“It took him a while to actually come in, well I’ve been pestering him since February when I met him and then he said ok, fine, he will come in,” recalled Ms. Morgan-Heslop.
“Jheanel has been begging me since February to come and give blood, I was a bit nervous, so I thought it would be a good excuse to catch it on video,” said Mr. Williams.
The video walks the viewer through the process: spoiler alert – it gets bloody.
The experienced Ms. Morgan-Heslop has some tricks up her sleeve to keep a first-time donor calm.
“The biggest thing is to take the focus away from them,” said Ms. Morgan-Heslop.
Mr. Williams said she accomplished that by answering his myriad questions.
“It is such a great cause, so quick, so easy, I mean it only took about four minutes to take the blood out, and that was it,” said Mr. Williams.
“I don’t really feel like anything has happened,” Mr. Williams said upon giving a pint of his type A-positive blood.
“Once you’ve done it, once you’ve gone through the process and you realize how easy it is you’re going to want to do it again,” said Ms. Morgan-Heslop.
When it was all said and done, Mr. Williams had enough raw footage to create his six minute masterpiece, and a special bonus for his efforts – free juice.
“Free juice, that was a huge bonus, so if you’re just feeling like free juice for the day, that’s a good excuse to come and give some blood,” said Mr. Williams.
To find out more on how you can save a life by giving blood, visit bloodbank.ky. You can watch the full video on the
Add Comment
You must log in to post a comment.