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

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It’s a quiet and overcast Christmas Eve on the typically bustling Collins Street. But inside the Red Cross Lifeblood centre there’s chatter, festive music and the soft whirr of medical equipment.

The room is busy. Most machines are occupied and people are listening for their name to be called in the waiting room. Between now and Boxing Day almost 2000 people are scheduled to give blood at one of the centres in Melbourne.

Lifeblood donor services nursing assistant Amira Nor Azhar with Peter Ruther.

“I think it’s just a nice thing to do, to give blood,” says donor Peter Ruther, who is visiting from Manchester in England. His wife and daughter are 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 sits in one of the centre’s donation chairs, he is attended to by donor services nursing assistant Amira Nor Azhar. She prepares his arm and inserts a needle while calmly explaining the process.

“Lifeblood’s reason is a really beautiful reason,” says 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 says. 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 these bookings were from Victoria. Lifeblood typically has 9000 daily bookings nationally.

A queue to give blood on December 14 at Town Hall Lifeblood centre in Sydney.

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 says.

“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 at his university became fortnightly appointments. Christmas Day will mark 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 says.

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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