‘What better thing to do?’ Thousands roll up sleeves to donate blood over festive season

Christmas Eve was a quiet and overcast day along Melbourne’s typically bustling Collins Street.

But from inside the Red Cross Lifeblood centre came sounds of chatter, festive music and the soft whirr of medical equipment. Most machines were occupied and people waited patiently to be seen by one of the nursing staff.

Across Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, almost 2000 Victorians donated blood, plasma or platelets at collection centres. Nationally, almost 6500 people donated.

“I think it’s just a nice thing to do, to give blood,” said donor Peter Ruther, who is visiting from Manchester in England. His wife and daughter were also donating at the centre.

“And [on] Christmas Eve, because we’re doing it as a family, it’s just a nice gesture,” he said.

As Ruther sat in one of the centre’s donation chairs, he was attended to by donor services nursing assistant Amira Nor Azhar. She prepared his arm and inserted a needle while calmly explaining the process.

“Lifeblood’s reason is a really beautiful reason,” said Nor Azhar, who has been working in the role for 5½ years. “Giving life to lots of patients and … changing their quality of life.”

The festive season always brings a heightened need for donations, she said. Hospitals are still open and need access to blood, plasma and platelets.

But the past fortnight has been atypical for the country’s Lifeblood donor centres.

A record number of Australians have rolled up their sleeves in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach massacre on December 14.

Almost 50,000 people around the country booked an appointment on the day after the attack. Twelve thousand of those bookings were from Victoria. Lifeblood typically has 9000 daily bookings nationally.

Sydney centres had snaking queues and long waiting times. Victoria has been the state with the second-highest number of donations behind only NSW.

In the week following the Bondi attack, almost all appointments in Melbourne were booked out. Lifeblood’s website reportedly crashed from the volume of people visiting the page.

“I’ve worked through floods, I’ve worked through bushfires, I’ve now worked though Bondi as well,” Nor Azhar said.

“It’s just a privilege to be able to provide for people during this time … It’s such a nice thing to see a [surge] of people willing to donate.”

While some have donated for the first time in the aftermath of Bondi, visiting a centre is second nature for others.

Shane Patman has been a regular donor for almost four decades. What started as a spontaneous blood donation at a mobile van when at university became fortnightly appointments. Christmas Day marked his 749th donation.

“Life is a gift. Christmas is about giving. So what better thing to do than continue the fortnightly habit and give life to someone on Christmas Day?” Patman said.

The 57-year-old, who has spent time working as a physiotherapist in hospitals, said tending to those in critical care encouraged him to continue turning up to donate.

“It’s such an inspiring, happy environment. Everyone’s there giving something freely … you get a sense of accomplishment, of giving back to the community,” he said.

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