An amazing gift.

Last Saturday, I went to Atlanta Blood Services to give platelets.  This was my 4th visit but my first time going without being able to donate for David.  Heartbreakingly, his time at the clinic had come to a close.  Knowing this, I wasn't really in the donating mood but I went in spite of myself.  Honestly, I went for David.  This is something I can do.

It didn't occur to me before I went but when I got there it hit me - hard.  David's regular clinic visits for blood and platelets were just across the elevator bank from Atlanta Blood Svcs.  I walked out of the elevator onto the 10th floor of the Tower Bldg. at Northside and a hollowness came over me.  This was the same path that David and Sheila, David and Lisa, David and Philip, David and Keith (depending on the day) had walked so many times.  I looked to my right at the clinic doors and my heart ached.  The last time I saw David he was just inside those doors.  I turned and went left toward the Atlanta Blood Services suite and thought I should stop at the restroom before my 2 hour appt.

I made my way into the ladies room and there stood a woman who was wearing a blue mask over her mouth and nose, her baldness was veiled by a scarf pulled tightly around her crown and her frame was tiny.  She never looked at me but it was clear that she wasn't giving platelets that day.  She was there to receive them.  A gift she can't buy.  I immediately thought, I'm here for her.  

I met a fellow Team Boyd member and we donated together.  Our eyes filled with tears throughout most of our appointment.  Prayers were sent for David and his family and also for our harvesting platelets that would hopefully give light and life to those that received them.

David is my 3rd friend to have blood cancer and desperately need platelets.  I'm ashamed to admit that his request was the first one that I honored.  In my visits to ABS, they have praised David and his efforts to boost donations.  They were very honest about how no one had ever rallied so many donors as David had.  I believe it.  

I called Atlanta Blood Services the day after he passed away.  My voice was shaky as I told them I wanted to make my next appointment, in honor of David Boyd.  The director of donor recruitment answered my call and he expressed his condolences and said how grateful he was to still have members of Team Boyd as allies (and several donors had to understandably cancel their appointments because of their sorrow).

They still need us, they need you and me.

Please make your appointment today, do it for the guy who would ask you himself if he still could and do it for that lady who can't live without them.

Atlanta Blood Services
http://atlantabloodservices.com/gen_eligibility.htm
404.459.8744

Platelets
Platelets are fragments of a much larger cell, the megakaryocyte, that stays in the bone marrow after it differentiates and matures from the stem cell.

The platelets leave the bone marrow and circulate throughout the body. When stimulated by substances from damaged tissue, the platelets release substances necessary to help blood clot. This helps initiate the clotting sequence and protect the integrity of the vasculature.