'Sometimes when I see blood I'm a little queasy': First-timer Rui En donates blood with fan club to celebrate milestone

Rui En has found a way to give back to the community amid her Instagram milestone celebrations.

In three separate Instagram posts yesterday (Oct 9), she shared her journey of donating blood for the first time at the Health Sciences Authority to mark her one-year Instagram milestone.

"RBKD (Rui En's fan club) and I have a history of celebrating milestones by doing charity work and they wanted to celebrate my one year on Instagram — which by the way was in August — by donating blood," the 41-year-old local actress said.

The club had to postpone the celebration until September due to difficulties with scheduling, a spokesperson from the fan club told AsiaOne yesterday.

Rui En also said: "This is literally my first time doing this (blood donation) and I was a little bit nervous… sometimes when I see blood I'm a little queasy."

She also made some preparations before going for the donation.

"I've been taking iron supplements because a friend of mine who trains and works out as much as me actually came to donate blood but her iron levels were too low," Rui En said, explaining she had been taking supplements for the past week.

"If I pass out or faint, I'm already at a hospital," she jokingly added.

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During her turn, she again worried that she would "feel queasy" when she saw blood and decided not to look while her blood was drawn.

As Rui En was slowly talked through the process of blood donation, she covered her eyes with her other hand and shielded her line-of-sight.

"I don't want to see!" She laughed nervously.

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Once Rui En was done with her donation, she also took the time to explain the reason behind their decision.

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"We just want to spread the message that there are so many [restrictions] — if your iron levels aren't high enough, if your haemoglobin levels aren't high enough, if your veins can't be found, you can't donate.

"And so I think we just want to spread the word that if we raise awareness for this and more people come and try and donate blood, then it will help [save lives]."

Rui En later elaborated: "I was told that one bag of blood saves three lives. So by God's grace, today we have nine bags of blood, so that's 27 lives [saved].

"If you are eligible and you can do your part, please come down and donate. As you can see, it's really nothing, it doesn't hurt at all and I'm perfectly fine, so please come and save lives."

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Their decision to hold a blood donation event is timely, as the Singapore Red Cross also announced on Oct 7 that their blood stocks have dipped, calling for people to help by donating blood.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com

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