My Blood
By
Jeffrey Hickey

Copyright © 2008
Jeffrey Hickey & Big-n-Boo Productions



I can give my blood to you.  Some of you might already have my blood.  My name is Jeffrey Hickey and my blood type is O negative.  I am a universal donor.

There is a worldwide shortage of blood. This is an ongoing issue of critical concern. If you don’t believe me, Google it and see what comes up. Blood centers are begging for people to donate. This is an issue that is not impacted by the economy or gas prices. It is a constant.

Approximately 80% of the world population is eligible to donate; yet only about 5% donate on a regular basis. If every person, or even if most people eligible to donate would do so regularly, there would never be a shortage of blood. The only time blood donation rises to an adequate level is when there is an emergency that briefly raises public consciousness. Such was the case in New York in the days immediately after 9/11. In fact, blood centers had to turn people away because they ran out of storage space. But that is the rather tragic and ironic exception, that only when things have plunged to their catastrophic worst are people compelled to do what they know is best.

So how can this state of mind be changed? How do we awaken the best in us without waiting for the historically proven precedent of disaster striking first?

The issue needs to be personalized. People need to connect with this on a deeper level. It cannot be fictionalized or created on some false pretense. People need to read, see and then experience for themselves the absolute reality of blood donation.

And what is that reality? For years, the American Red Cross has advertised that every time you donate blood, you save three lives. That is a compelling pitch, but it does not personalize the issue. People need to feel the moral and emotional benefits for themselves in order to believe.

That is why I have begun working with my local Blood Centers of the Pacific, in Northern California. I have asked them to help me track my blood, to see where it goes, to see how many lives it saves. I want to meet these people. I want to see and feel the impact of my donation. I want to know their story and how, through the miraculous course of choice, chance and fate, our paths crossed through my blood. I want to write a book chronicling these stories. I am compelled to do this.

Luckily for me, Blood Centers of the Pacific feel as passionately as I about both the shortage of blood in the world, and the moral satisfaction that comes from donating. We are collaborating our efforts to create a book I have titled My Blood. I am going to document this process. I am going to tell my story and the stories of those that receive My Blood.

I am not the only one who feels as I do. I am not the only person who understands the intrinsic satisfaction of selflessly giving a vital part of myself for the benefit of someone I don’t know. Blood Centers of the Pacific have an annual donor/recipient party that is one of the most emotionally gratifying any of us have attended. But even then, that event is an unknown for those who are there. You don’t get to meet the actual people that you donate to.

So I want to take this a step further. I want to know the actual people, and families of people that receive my blood. I want to meet them and experience, first hand, the impact my blood has made.

And this is not just about the blood, the donation or the recipient. It is about the sociological element of blood going from one person to another without any preference toward sex, race, creed, and lifestyle. It is truly an issue where all people become equal. My blood could go to anyone, without regard for issue or circumstance, or whether that person and I have anything in common, or would otherwise even become friends. The issue of blood donation is both biologically imperative, and sociologically significant.

The legal issues of privacy are complicated, but they are not insurmountable. If my local Blood Centers of the Pacific is willing to work through these issues with hospitals, medical directors, recipients and donors on a local level, imagine what could be done on a national level.

My Blood is going to be a great book. I want My Blood to change the world. I want you to have My Blood. Some of you may already have My Blood. Someday, I may receive your blood.

My name is Jeffrey Hickey and my blood is O negative. I am a universal donor.

What is your intent?

by Jeffrey Hickey,

Blood donation is a consciously selfless act of anonymously helping others with an outcome that is almost never known to the donor. In fact, one of the most consistent benefits is for the donor. When we donate, we don’t know if we are actually saving a life. We don’t know the impact it has on the lives of the recipient, their family and loved ones. When I speak or correspond with other donors, we all agree on one thing—how happy it makes us feel to donate.

But this happy feeling is never communicated directly to recipients. They gratefully receive the blood we willingly give; yet they do not know the full intention of our donation. I feel this is a vital link in the healing process, and should be communicated. I think it would be helpful for the recipient to know our intentions for donating. I would like recipients to know what I hope, wish, and intend for my donation to accomplish. I would like there to be a place, on the forms we fill out when we donate, on a website we can access, or just an address we can send, where we can write what we want recipients to know. I believe this opportunity to communicate directly to recipients would also encourage others to donate.

Here are a few of my blood intentions:

I would like you to feel the kind of love I feel for my wife. Every morning for the last 27 years, I have awakened next to the love of my life, who also happens to be my best friend. If I could have one wish or hope for your life, it would be to feel this love.

It rained yesterday, and this morning the air was sweet with the smell of living things awakening after a long slumber. I hope you get better soon and go outside and smell the air. I want you to know all the hope and possibility that comes from healing.

I wish you could have a bite of my pancake from breakfast. My sons and I took a walk this morning and picked fresh huckleberries. We brought them home and my wife put them into the pancakes and I want you to have some because they are so yummy!

I want you to laugh. I want you to laugh so loud and long and hard that other people stop what they are doing to find out what is so funny. Then I want you to tell them, and I hope they laugh with you. I love to laugh. I hope you laugh soon.

These are only a few of my intentions. I would write them every chance I could if there were a place to post them and have them read by both recipients and donors. I believe these intentions could aid in the healing of recipients, while giving donors more reasons to share our blood, and all the happiness in giving.

Published 12/02/2009
by Blood Centers of the Pacific