Without blood transfusions, 4.5 million Americans would die every year. On Friday, over 60 EHS students did their part to help by donating blood at the school blood drive.

National Honor Society sponsors a blood drive each year, partnering with the Mississippi Valley Blood Center. Students are encouraged to sign up if they are interested and are called down to donate during school hours.

Senior Liz Mislan donated for the first time this year, and she said her experience was good—until it wasn’t.

“The initial blood draw went very well,” Mislan said. “As the phlebotomist started to take the needle out, I became very light headed and hot, and then I passed out for a few seconds.”

Despite the unfortunate end to her drawing, Mislan had a successful donation and believes the sacrifice was worth it.

“If we have the opportunity to spend half an hour donating something our bodies will just make more of to save someone’s life, we need to do it,” Mislan said.

Junior Kadin Lieberman agreed with this thought and decided to make the most of his donation. While most students gave one pint of blood each, Lieberman donated two.

“If I can help more I will always do it,” Lieberman said. “There are a lot of people who need it and it’s not hurting me at all.”

This year, the drive was organized by seniors McKinlee Gobble and Sophia Swarthout. Gobble said that though planning the event was stressful, she enjoyed it and thought it ran smoothly.

“With help from everyone, it was fun and rewarding to be a part of something that can benefit so many people in the future,” Gobble said.

But even with good organization and good intentions, some students still found the donation process frightening.

Senior Skylar Bloch said she was pressured by her friends to sign up, and she almost backed out because of fear. And once the needle was in her vein, Bloch’s fears were confirmed.

“I started sweating so much and felt like I was going to puke…,” Bloch said. “The whole time, I was thinking, ’I need to suck it up and save three lives.’”

The feeling only got worse, though, and Bloch could not finish her donation. For people with fears like hers, she suggests eating a lot before and trying to overcome the queasiness.

“I was terrified to get it done, but then I thought about the fact that I could save three lives,” Bloch said. “Saving three lives would be worth me being scared and trying to face my fears.”