It doesn’t matter whether you’re old or young, you can still donate blood.
That’s the message the Red Cross is trying to get out this month.
Graham Simmonds has been visiting the Werribee donor centre on Bridge Street since 1978. Now aged 71, he still donates plasma fortnightly.
“I gave blood four times a year for about 25 years, and now I donate plasma,” he said. “It’s gratifying and great to know I can help people who need it.”
While Mr Simmonds doesn’t remember what it was exactly that got him donating 39 years ago, he thinks it might have been an advertising campaign.
“I guess I just wanted to help people. I’m 71, but I’m still fit and healthy so there’s no reason why I can’t do it. I feel good when I go there; it’s definitely not an unpleasant time.”
To others thinking of donating, Mr Simmonds advises that they give it a go.
And age is definitely no barrier for the Welsford twins of Hoppers Crossing. Megan and Emily donated blood for the first time as soon they were of legal age (16), in August last year.
Their mother, Shannon Ferguson, said the girls decided to give blood after seeing their mother donate for seven years. “They also wanted to know their blood type, and we didn’t think of going to the doctors and getting a blood test done,” she said with a laugh.
“They’d been wanting to do it for their 16th birthday, and they did. They enjoyed the fact their blood was going to someone in need and loved it when they got a text message saying where their blood had gone.”
Call the Werribee donor centre on 13 14 95.
