The imperative of saving the life of a friend made, for the first time, 20 years ago, Maxyuris Rodríguez Fernández donated her blood.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- The objective that led her to carry out this act could not be achieved then; but, after years of extending her arm on multiple occasions, she has the satisfaction and the merit of having contributed to the health of many people.

She says that the spiritual nourishment to return time after time to the Provincial Blood Bank is just that "helping others". Knowing that her humanitarian gesture offers a second chance at life to others symbolizes her greatest gratification.

Thanks to beings like Maxyuris, we can put a face to the statistics of the more than eight thousand volunteers who perform the noble act daily. This woman from Las Tunas, who does not stop to think that her gesture is a precise work of summits, also has the assurance that in the face of an unforeseen event in life, she can always be counted on.

"Luckily, I am a universal donor. Luck in one sense, but concern on the other hand. Good luck because I can save everyone, everyone who needs it can count on me; although if I have a health problem, I only admit to receiving the same blood group.”

People who are O negative are very special, and a minority in the world population; they are rare with the possibility of transfusing any recipient, which is why they are essential in emergencies. They are the select donors, the most sought after.

Thus, with the urgency of an emergency, one day she arrived at the “Guevara” hospital summoned by the family before the life at risk of a neighbor. She could not donate then, she had four days to complete the four months established between one donation and another; and her hemoglobin, a paradox that usually accompanies her, was low and prevented her from offering the longed-for help.

"Later, I asked and the boy, thank God, was fine," she says now, knowing that sometimes an invisible red thread unites us with other people to whom we cannot put a face or name, but to whom we can give a part of our existence.

Accustomed to giving her blood without paying attention to any interest, moved only by the feeling of solidarity, she extends her arm without needing major philosophies.

"It is a simple and painless process. It is humanism, something that comes from you, that makes you feel proud and satisfied. It is to be aware that you can save a person. I invite you to attend the Blood Bank and without any fear ‘give your grain of sand’,” this generous woman says convinced.

For the one who gives, donating is a simple act; on the other hand, for those who receive the donation, it is an act of enormous importance. In situations of fragility, risk, fear, tension ... at the limits, there is always someone, or many, to whom thank for survival.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nine out of 10 people need, at some point, to be transfused, even when such work is not carried out. Faced with those events that usually break normality, the status quo, the balance; in the face of events that put the life at risk, Maxyuri expresses: "If you have a situation and I am in time to donate, help, save someone, count on me; I work at TunasVisión channel, you can find me there.”