Janet Gogerty's Blog: Sandscript - Posts Tagged "tony-hancock"
Sandscript on Blood
Have you ever....these words precede many of the questions in a long list you must answer before you donate blood; many of them enough to make a nun blush. Of course the blood is going to be tested for a variety of diseases, but not all can be detected in the early stages. Comedian Tony Hancock remains the most memorable blood donor, in an iconic episode of Hancock's Half Hour entitled 'The Blood Donor', first broadcast in 1961. Happily in those days nobody had heard of AIDS or CJD. Hancock ends up having to receive his own rare blood after cutting himself.
But for regular blood donors to the National Health Service, it remains a way of giving without having to open your purse. Brought up on the story of the eight pints of blood received by a family member, I became a donor at eighteen and as the upper age limit is raised regularly, hope to continue for as long as possible.
Up and down the country we wait for our names to be called and our fingers pricked. This is the last hurdle, the drop of blood goes in the pot of liquid - if it sinks you have enough iron, proof that it is real iron in our blood. If it floats they have more sophisticated ways to check your blood count and a visit to the doctor may be in order.
Church halls, medical centres or a 'Bloodmobile' in a car park; the blood team are on the road every day rotating their visits. Donors get the call two or three times a year; we never know whether the blood will save a new mother or a hardened criminal, we all need blood. Maybe one day it will be created artificially and the altruistic giving will be lost, but until then many people will be regularly filling a bag of blood and having a cup of tea afterwards, brewed by volunteers.
Science has come a long way since the discovery that blood has different groups; from detecting DNA to the mundane 'blood tests' that are a feature of many visits to the G.P.
A blood test at the beginning of my novel 'Brief Encounters of the Third Kind' leads to Emma Dexter eventually finding out the truth about her strange origins. From vampires to crime fiction, 'blood' is almost as important to writers as the vital liquid in their own veins.
But for regular blood donors to the National Health Service, it remains a way of giving without having to open your purse. Brought up on the story of the eight pints of blood received by a family member, I became a donor at eighteen and as the upper age limit is raised regularly, hope to continue for as long as possible.
Up and down the country we wait for our names to be called and our fingers pricked. This is the last hurdle, the drop of blood goes in the pot of liquid - if it sinks you have enough iron, proof that it is real iron in our blood. If it floats they have more sophisticated ways to check your blood count and a visit to the doctor may be in order.
Church halls, medical centres or a 'Bloodmobile' in a car park; the blood team are on the road every day rotating their visits. Donors get the call two or three times a year; we never know whether the blood will save a new mother or a hardened criminal, we all need blood. Maybe one day it will be created artificially and the altruistic giving will be lost, but until then many people will be regularly filling a bag of blood and having a cup of tea afterwards, brewed by volunteers.
Science has come a long way since the discovery that blood has different groups; from detecting DNA to the mundane 'blood tests' that are a feature of many visits to the G.P.
A blood test at the beginning of my novel 'Brief Encounters of the Third Kind' leads to Emma Dexter eventually finding out the truth about her strange origins. From vampires to crime fiction, 'blood' is almost as important to writers as the vital liquid in their own veins.
Sandscript
I like to write first drafts with pen and paper; at home, in busy cafes, in the garden, at our beach hut... even sitting in a sea front car park waiting for the rain to stop I get my note book out. We
...more
- Janet Gogerty's profile
- 19 followers
