By Samantha Stuefer
Many students gathered in the West Gym on Friday, January 25th to donate blood to the Lincoln Community Blood Bank. Over 60 pints of blood was donated by students here at Lincoln High School. Three times a school year, the Nebraska Community Blood Bank comes to LHS to let students, age 17 or over with parents permission, give blood. “They pick it up about two or three times a day and bring it back to the Blood Bank,” Gary Herr, volunteer at the Blood Bank and graduate of Lincoln High, said. Many tests are run on the blood before it is ever stored in the refrigerator Herr went on to say. But what exactly will the blood be used for? We will never know.
Many diseases and life threatening situations call for a transfusion of blood. For example, someone may get into a car crash where they get drastically injured and lose a lot of blood. Donated blood could be used for the victim to help them “refill” on their loss of blood. “One pint of blood could save up to three people’s lives,” Herr said. Though donating for such a great cause should make you feel wonderful emotionally, you may not feel as good physically.
“It was good until I got done,” said Meosha Wallace, Junior at Lincoln High School. “I passed out.” She went on to say that she did not eat that morning, which is crucial when it comes to donating that much blood. You can become light headed from a lack of nutrients in the body. If you are interested in donating outside of school, you can always go to the Nebraska Community Blood Bank and donate there.