Donating blood in Shepherd’s Bush
A few days ago I donated some blood. I’d say this is because I am a wholly virtuous person, but I invariably spend a portion of my session looking up the various health benefits of getting rid of a pint of claret. The biscuits afterwards are a further inducement.
Yet on the whole, donating blood is one of those things that people take upon themselves to do for ‘the greater good’. It is a fairly miraculous process: the Volk of a country taking the time and effort to donate their precious bodily fluids so that others, unknown to them, after some wretched accident or some inner-city stabby-stabby enrichment, can have a stab at survival.
The notion that in some jurisdictions you are paid for your donation strikes many do-gooders as variously obscene, outrageous and/or American. An article in The Guardian last year lamented people being paid to donate plasma, …
The rest of this article features in our July 2024 print issue, available to subscribers.
