"If a needle is supposed to save your life, you lose your fear of it."

BarcelonaAnna Boltas, 17, experienced her father being told there wasn't enough blood available for more transfusions to keep him alive when he suffered from bladder cancer. "My sister and I offered to give him the necessary blood, but we were told that donations don't work that way," she explains. So, she decided to donate everything: platelets, blood, and plasma. In 2019, Carlos González had a headache. It didn't seem like anything that couldn't be cured with ibuprofen, but he began to feel a strange heartbeat, and in the emergency room, he discovered he had an arteriovenous malformation in his brain that needed surgery. During the 18-hour operation, 36 bags of donated blood were used. "My 14-year-old daughter doesn't tell me she wants to be of age to go out and party, but rather to donate blood," he boasts.

As is often the case every year, blood, plasma, and platelet reserves have decreased in the summer due to the reduction in donations with the start of the holidays and the change in routines. The Blood and Tissue Bank (BST) estimates that this year donations will have dropped by 20% compared to other months. In July, 18,367 donations were recorded, a figure below the usual target of 20,000 per month, and it is estimated that in August, the figure will not be reached. Faced with this situation, which means blood reserves remain below optimal levels for the return to routine, the Bank is urging citizens to donate blood and has launched a campaign with the slogan "Recharged Batteries, Recharged Lives."

González emphasizes that "giving blood is giving life," and that the blood he received during his operation "made the difference between being here and not being here." In fact, her operation took place in July, when donations drop by 20%. According to Dr. Joan Ramon Grífols, "blood donors are needed every day," adding: "During the summer, Easter, and Christmas, we all lose our routine a bit, and those donations that we would normally receive at other times of the year are not available."

The Blood and Tissue Bank estimates that 40,000 donations are needed per month, which is considered necessary to have an adequate reserve to meet the needs of patients in Catalonia. The Bank's healthcare director, Joan Ramon Grífols, emphasizes that "it would be absurd to collect more blood donations," as there would be excess, expire, and spoil.

1,000 donations are needed daily.

The demand for blood donations decreases by approximately 2% each year because surgical techniques improve and drugs are being developed that can be alternatives to blood in several cases, according to Grífols. However, donors are still needed in the summer: a thousand donations would be needed each day, but the figure often fluctuates between 600 and a thousand daily donations.

Boltas and his family went to donate blood on the birthday of his sister's death from breast cancer, and he always encourages those around him to donate. "There are people who don't donate because they're afraid of needles, but if a needle has to save your life, you lose that fear," he says. In González's case, he was already a donor, but seeing all the blood it took to save himself, his family was also encouraged to take the step.