More than six years ago, John Norman signed up to donate blood at a blood drive his workplace was hosting. Not long after, he received a call from Versiti and learned he was a perfect candidate to donate platelets. “I decided to go in and donate; I thought it was really cool how the machine took the platelets out and put everything else back in,” he says.

But donating really hit home for John when he learned that a coworker and friend survived childhood leukemia thanks, in part, to donated platelets. “All of a sudden, I could put a face to the reason I donated,” he says.

Over the years, John has connected with many people whose lives have been impacted by platelet donation. With their permission, he shares their stories on his social media pages and dedicates each donation to someone special. “Initially, it was a reason to focus on something other than myself,” he says. “It’s become not just a donation every couple of weeks, but time spent connecting with other people and building wonderful relationships.”

John has donated platelets 129 times and counting and encourages others to consider donating, too. “I can point to at least 10 people who have decided to donate just from hearing other people’s stories,” he says. “It’s never too late to start.”

People need people, make a difference in someone’s life by donating blood.

We must rely on each other for the gift of blood, and patients in your community rely on the generosity of Versiti’s blood donors to help. Please consider scheduling an appointment to donate. If this is your first time, donating blood is quick, easy and relatively painless. And, it is a great way to give back and help patients in your community.