I was so dizzy and my heart was beating so loud I initially thought somebody was beating a drum, so deafening was the sound. It took a while for me to recognise that it was my heart! I took a bath and before I could dry myself, I needed to rest awhile. I gathered as much courage as I could and went through the motions that day although my chest was beating up to a crescendo. By midday, I had to seek medical attention and it wasn't until the next day that I went for a physical examination and was told that my haemoglobin levels had reached unacceptable levels and I urgently needed a blood transfusion. By then I felt suffocated, my throat was closing up, just the effort of pulling a sweater over my head was an impossible task and I was rushed to the nearest hospital.
The first thing they did when I got to the hospital was check my blood pressure and temperature. I am the kind of person who likes to guard my personal space but that night my barriers came crashing down as my beliefs about life, judgments I had placed upon other people crumbled; my mindset was about to be reset and an assessment of my personal values was about to be eroded forever. In less than 24hrs, I came to the realisation that we are all blood brothers and sisters and equally valuable.
