Sweets Lawrence, daughter of Sonya Binns, says giving blood is no longer a fear.

Growing up and seeing her mother (Sonya) extracting blood as a phlebotomist, one would have thought this made it easy for Sweets Lawrence to become a volunteer blood donor. Not so, says Sweets, who revealed that she was bribed into making her first donation, as she, at first, was very nervous to face the needle, but now has registered six donations with the Blood Bank.

Recounting the experience, Sweets says her mother invited her to visit the Blood Bank with her on one of her regular trips to donate blood.

While at the facility, Sweets says her mother put on a pitiful expression and begged her to make her first donation.

"When I sat in the chair, she (Sonya) was smiling from ear to ear. I was like, 'do I have to (give blood)' and she says 'yes baby'."

Still reluctant to donate the life-saving substance, Sweets says her mother likened the experience to a mosquito bite, trying to dispel her fears.

"When the needle met my vein, I sang opera," she burst into laughter. "But when I saw the blood pumping through the tube, I thought, this is so cool, so I started pumping harder."

After her first experience, Sweets says she waited in anticipation for three months to end so that she could return to donate blood.

"Now, we give blood together, so we are on separate beds and we are right beside each other. So it's a family thing," she says.

"You do it once, you are going to feel nervous because it is your first time. It's just like breaking your virginity, you feel nervous. I hear about it, okay," she says, in response to her mother's exclamation.

She says the practice of 'selling' one's blood is wrong, and discouraged persons who pay others to donate blood on their behalf, urging indivi-duals to make it a voluntary experience.

"When Christ died for our sins, we would still be indebted to Him and still in our sins if we were to pay for that, because his blood washes our sins away. So, we having our health and donating our blood to save somebody's life; selling it is a totally ludicrous idea," she says.

- E.C.