▲ Professor Yoo Jin-sang is donating blood (Source: CWNU Waggle)

There are many ways to save people’s lives in the world. Among the ways, there is a particularly easy way for us to go out and save another person's life, which is through blood donation.

In March of this year, CWNU's Student Military Education Team, signed a blood donation cooperation agreement with the Gyeongnam Blood Institute of the Korean Red Cross, to help overcome difficulties in blood supply and demand, due to COVID-19. School corps officials and candidates donated blood. In this way, there is one professor who is actively donating blood at CWNU alongside students. He is Professor Yoo Jin-sang, of the Department of Architecture at CWNU. Recently, he achieved 100 cumulative blood donations and received an honorary medal for his blood donations, he is the main character. The Campus Journal met Professor Yoo Jin-sang and heard various stories about blood donation.

When asked about why he donated blood, he said that the daughter of the owner of the restaurant he often visited when he was a college student had leukemia, and thus needed a lot of blood donation certificates. Therefore, he started donating blood from that moment on. When asked why he is constantly donating blood, he said, "I have a philosophy that the best virtue in my life is service. However, it is rarely easy to take the time to serve because my life is busy. However, if I donate blood every 15 days, I spend only two and a half hours a month, including travel time, to do a great service. I think there is no easier volunteer work than this, so I am steadily donating blood." When asked what his opinion was regarding blood donations, he said, "The blood shortage in Korea is serious due to COVID-19. Therefore, I hope that blood donation will be established and popularized in life by introducing a blood donation system for office workers and students. Also, I hope that blood donation education will be made routine at the university headquarters. Additionally, I hope that all members of the university will challenge to receive a group blood donation center under the name of CWNU, by expanding blood donation opportunities and sharing blood donation experiences." Regarding his feelings about receiving the honorary medal, he said, "I feel grateful to my parents for giving me a healthy body to donate blood whenever I choose to. Thus, I think blood donation is the most dignified way of expressing love. Through blood donation, I think I have 100 siblings around me. Knowing the joy of donating blood in this way also raises the desire for the 200th Honorary Captain and the 300th Honorary Captain. I will continue to challenge myself to achieve this in the future."

For healthy blood donations, there are things to know before donating blood. First, you should check the physical conditions required for blood donation. Blood donation is possible only from 16 to 69 years of age. Men must weigh more than 50kg and women must weigh more than 45kg. Systolic blood pressure should be between 90 and less than 180, diastolic blood pressure should be less than 100. However, even if these conditions are met, those who have traveled abroad for the past 30 days cannot donate blood. Also, donations may be restricted depending on the type of drugs people are taking. After donating blood, it is recommended to drink three to four cups of water more than usual, to replenish blood. Smoking and drinking should be avoided within an hour after donating blood.

Donating blood can check the health status of the body, such as white blood cell count, total protein, platelet and liver levels, and can help prevent heart disease by discharging excess iron that can cause excessive blood vessel contraction. Above all, it has a great advantage of being able to contribute to saving other people's lives. It is good to do volunteer work steadily, but we hope you feel another kind of happiness and pride that you cannot feel through existing volunteer work, by donating blood.

By Lee Yeon-jin, cub-reporter  dlduswls45@naver.com

<저작권자 © The Campus Journal, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지>