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Eric Allen is proud to say he has donated platelets 450 times. He started donating to overcome his fear of blood and has conquered his fear while saving lives.
Eric Allen, an Information Technology (IT) telecom technician at ARUP Laboratories, recently donated blood platelets for the 450th time. Although the decision to donate is easy for him now, earlier in his life he never pictured himself donating blood.
Allen overcame a significant fear of blood to reach this milestone. In 1989, he began donating blood to confront his fears. Over time, and with the support of staff at ARUP Blood Services, Allen moved from donating whole blood to platelets. His persistence paid off, and he now donates regularly without fear.
Allen said that his fear of blood began in high school. "I got lightheaded in health class just discussing the circulatory system," he recalled. Seeing, or even thinking about blood, made him queasy. For a long time, he did everything in his power to avoid being around blood.
“Avoidance was not a solution,” Allen said. He knew that he would eventually need to overcome this fear.
In 1988, Allen had an encounter that forced him to face his fear of blood. He saw a woman trip on the sidewalk and tried to help. When she turned to look at him, he saw her bleeding and stepped away. “I could not help her,” he said. “I wanted to run.”
Allen instead helped from a distance. He ran to find someone who could offer first aid and watched to ensure she received care. “It was not my finest moment, and it bothered me,” Allen said. “I didn’t want to be so limited by this fear.”
The first time he donated was horrible. “For the whole donation, I sat in the chair with my eyes closed. My mind was convinced that I was bleeding to death. Obviously, I survived,” Allen said. And after that, “I donated again and again.”
In 1996, Allen accepted a job at ARUP, where he still works. ARUP Blood Services encourages employees to donate blood, so he began donating more regularly.
Allen still felt panicked during each procedure. “In those early days at ARUP, it was a three-person project to get a needle in me,” he said. “One person to hold a towel between my eyes and my arm, one person to distract me, and a third person to insert the needle.”
Allen felt determined to completely conquer his fear of blood. He began donating platelets so he could donate more frequently. While whole blood can only be donated every 56 days, platelets can be donated every 10–14 days up to 23 times per year.
Over time, donating became much easier for Allen. "It went from a three-person process to a two-person process,” he said. “Finally, I took no more care than anyone else.”
Allen described his relationship to donating blood as mutually beneficial. "I was hooked on the good of donations," he said. His decision to face his fears helped him become accustomed to blood, saved lives, and empowered him to assist others in critical situations.
As a father of eight, Scoutmaster, and sports coach, Allen often needs to perform first aid. “Staying calm and rational in these situations is now natural for me,” he said. “Donating gave me the capacity to act in these moments.”
ARUP Blood Services is always in need of donors and offers programs to reward new and recurring donors. Learn how you can help at utahblood.org.
