Who is your hero? Martin Luther King, Jr.? Mother Theresa? Perhaps Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who landed a plane in the Hudson River.

NOT FOUND: save a life.jpgWe have heroes so that we can believe humanity has a chance, for a hope that our own purpose will aid others. Never before had I felt that I could even remotely be a hero until I participated in a community blood drive. 2010 was the first year I donated blood and registered to be a bone marrow donor.

This was the year, but I wasn’t fully convinced. After hearing my mentor say that he would give blood and that it was “a good thing”, I mustered the courage. It was that voice in my head that overcame the fear. “Giving is a good thing”.

The first step to donating is a series of questions and a finger prick to see if you qualify. You can’t be ill; you must have enough iron in your blood to give. The nurse attending to me assured me that I could eat a steak dinner to accomplish this task if there is any doubt. I hadn’t eaten any steak all week. It was decided the iron already existing in my blood would have to do.

As I waited in line, paperwork in hand, I kept thinking of the needle. The dreaded piercing of a sharp object into my arm is about as unnerving as it gets. For many, it’s why they don’t give. Fear of needles, fear of the medical community and fear of either finding out they have a condition or will contract a disease they aren’t presently aware of.

Here’s a comforting fact - the process is sterile.

Once sitting in the chair, I took deep breaths and avoided looking at my bare arm being prepped. My blood pressure checked, an alcohol swab, and seconds later I felt the pierce of the needle. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to flinch. It did hurt – of course it did – but it was shortlived. Besides, all I could hear in my head was, “Giving is a good thing”.

Maintaining my deep breaths I looked over only once while I felt the blood course from my vein to the surgical bag containing life giving blood that I knew would last little longer than a month; blood that would save at least two, maybe three people. More would be saved if they used my blood to save infants. Only 3 tablespoons of blood can save a baby’s life.

The phlebotomist (a medical technician trained to draw blood) checked on me, repeatedly assuring that we were, “almost there”, “halfway there”, and “just one more minute away” from being done with the donation. Before long the needle was removed and my arm was wrapped in purple and pink gauze, complements of the phlebotomist who asked what my favorite colors were. It was a quick five minutes.

Five minutes and I saved lives. Five minutes and I was someone’s hero. I’ll never meet them – but know that I’ve been quickly adopted into a group of unnamed champions. Everyday people who sacrifice a total of one hour of their time in order to save burn victims, car crash survivors, pregnant women and children in need of transfusions.

Bone marrow donations are just as simple as the blood donations with a simple needle insertion into your arm as the first resort. If that doesn’t work you’re put to sleep and an insertion is made in the small of your back. This defeated every notion I had that your bones are cut in two and scraped for the precious marrow. Just another false theory defeated. To register, all it takes is an oral swab and they call you when they find a match. A match means the person who is genetically close to you lives longer because of the stem cells you provide.

Currently fewer than one out of every ten people actually donate blood. Be the change – join a community full of heroes.

To donate blood is simple, travel to your nearest Blood Source location, 8095 Greenback Lane, Citrus Heights. Call (916) 722-7119‎ or log on to bloodsource.com for a full list of locations.

For information on the National Bone Marrow Registry check out www.marrow.org.