KUCHING – Blood Bank public relations officer Boniface Anak Lasek was a happy man when more than 70 students and staff from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus stepped forward to answer its call to give blood at a blood donation campaign held last week.
Personnel from the Blood Bank were kept busy by a steady stream of eager donors who made a bee line to the university’s auditorium where the blood donation campaign was held.
“The campaign is a success as we managed to collect more than the average 30 pints,” said a beaming Boniface.
“We are very thankful to the students and university for their support. We always manage to collect more from Swinburne Sarawak.”
Although the response was overwhelming, however, only 40 were eligible to donate. The rest did not meet the Blood Bank’s criteria and told to try again in future.
At the close of the event, 40 pints of blood were harvested.
Those who were able to give blood were clearly pleased to have been able to contribute to the call for blood donation.
“Donating blood is not as scary as I thought it would be,” said first-time donor Christopher Ling Chee Kwong, a third-year student reading diploma in business and information systems.
“It takes less than 15 minutes but it’s a gift that goes a long way,” he said.
Ling said he tried donating at the last campaign which was also held on campus earlier this year but was rejected as he did not fulfil some of the criteria.
“I’m now happy as I’ve been accepted this time around because I heard that from a one-time donation, you are helping three lives,” he said.
Like Ling, accounting student Wong Siik Ling also donated for the first time.
“It helps save lives and I will continue to donate, maybe annually,” said the 20-year-old from Bintulu who was accompanied by two friends for morale support in the noble cause.
“I suppose I am helping others (by donating blood),” said Shangkar Ganesh a/l Pandian, 22. The third-year mechanical engineering student from Pasir Gudang, Johor is no stranger to giving blood, having donated four times since he enrolled at Swinburne Sarawak.
“Where possible, I do it once every six months. It makes me happy to know that I am helping someone with my blood,” he said, and encourages those who have not done it before to come forward.
The annual blood donation campaign was jointly organized by Swinburne Sarawak’s Malaysian Red Crescent Voluntary Aid Detachment and the Leo Club.