Selfie photo. theaardvark — bald, purple beard, light grey thick-framed glasses, wearing a mauve hoodie — reclined in a blue donor chair at an NHS platelet donation centre. A cannula is visible in his right arm, which rests on a white paper sheet. The apheresis machine is mid-donation; dark red blood is visible in the tubing and collection components. A blue plastic basket of sample vials sits to his left. His expression is calm and unfazed, which feels appropriate given the circumstances.

It's platelets donation day again.
#PlateletDonation

2026/03/27: My 2nd #PlateletDonation for #March2026 lets me show off my new @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #DublinDown #StPatricksDay T-shirt! ☘️🩸☘️

2026/03/13: My @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation for #March2026 lets me show off my #Bucees #StPatricksDay T-shirt! ☘️🩸☘️

Got my 100th donation coin, badge and certificate today.
#givebloodnhs #plateletdonation

2026/02/20: My #PlateletDonation for #ValentinesMonth has me in my red @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #Donor T-shirt! ❤️🩸❤️

Donated a unit of platelets and 3 units of plasma! Happy Valentine's Day!

#RedCrossBloodDonation #PlateletDonation #PlasmaDonation

2026/01/30: My second @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation in #January lets me show off my new #MahnaMahna T-shirt! Apologies for the #Earworm. 🪱🩸🪱

2026/01/09: Welcome to the party, pal! My first #PlateletDonation of the new year lets me show off my new @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #YippeeKiYay T-shirt! 🔋🩸🔋

Donated 3 units of #Platelets and 1 of #Plasma today! #RedCrossBloodDonation #PlateletDonation

2025/12/19: My last @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation in #December has me wearing my #Krampus T-shirt and #Horns for the holiday season! 👹🩸👹

Selfie time while donating platelets at Carter BloodCare, wearing a Yoda “Elf I Am Not” Christmas T-shirt and reindeer antlers.

2025/12/03: My first @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation in #December has me wearing my #Yoda T-shirt and #Reindeer antlers! 🎅🏻🩸🎅🏻

Me donating platelets while at Carter BloodCare in Texas, while wearing a Spinal Tap concert shirt for National Metal Day on 11/11.

2025/11/12: My first (and only?) @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation in #November has me in my @spinaltapquotes.bsky.social concert T-shirt from 1992 for yesterday’s #NationalMetalDay! 🤘🩸🤘

Donation 47 today 💪
Still on track for my #50by50 goal!

I give platelets and plasma every 6 weeks or so - it’s honestly a great time to slow down, plan, & do something good.

If you can, please consider donating. It’s safe, it helps, and there are biscuits. 🍪

#giveblood #plateletdonation #nhsblood

2025/10/30: My second @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation in #October has me in my #Devil #NedFlanders T-shirt for #SpookySeason while holding my #JackOLantern #StressBall #Pumpkin from #TexasHauntersConvention! 👹🩸👹

Me in a Jack-o’-Lantern T-shirt while while holding a pumpkin-shaped stress toy during a platelets donation at Carter BloodCare in Texas.

2025/10/08: My first @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation in #October has me in my #JackOLantern T-shirt for #SpookySeason and using my new #squeezie from #ScarboroughsHollow! 🎃🩸🎃

Dear John, Thank you so much for your recent donation. We know that it's nice to see what becomes of your donation after you leave the donor centre, so we've produced this handy map that will show you every step on its journey to helping a patient. After donating at your local venue your donation was taken to our ‘manufacturing centre in Colindale where we ran all of our standard tests and then processed it into a form that can be given to a patient in need. Once it was ready it was sent to Hammersmith Hospital where it will help to save or improve someone's life. Your donations can make a profound difference to patients of many different types, be it cancer patients, people undergoing major surgery or even unborn babies. Please keep giving — every donation counts. Mark Chambers Director of Donor Experience NHS Blood and Transplant

My platelets have ended up in Hammersmith Hospital.
I think it's a nice touch that they let you know what's happened with them.
#PlateletDonation

Close-up of an arm sporting a impressive collection of festival wristbands from various gigs and a cannula taped in place for platelet donation. Proof that I've lived a bit, even if I'm now volunteering to be a human Capri Sun pouch.

Screen of a Terumoact blood donation machine showing 'Draw in progress' with collection statistics - platelets, plasma, and RBC levels displayed. The machine's doing its vampiric work whilst I pretend this is a perfectly normal way to spend a Monday.

Complex blood processing equipment with transparent tubes, collection bags, and various mechanical components that look suspiciously like something from a sci-fi film. The NHS's attempt at turning me into a human juice box, complete with all the bells and whistles.

[Blood/Platelets Donation; Photo of Needle/Cannula]

I'm donating platelets this morning. It's a bit like donating blood but takes 60 to 90 minutes.
#BloodDonation #PlateletDonation #BloodPlateletDonation

2025/08/08: My first @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation in #August has me celebrating #SnowmanDay by wearing my #Bumble T-shirt and #SnowMiser pin! ⛄️🩸⛄️

2025/07/23: My second @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation in #July has me in my #SantaStitch T-shirt for #ChristmasInJuly! 🩸🎅🏻🩸

2025/07/08: My first #PlateletDonation for #July has me in my new @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #Patriotic #MemorialDay T-shirt from this past May, which I haven’t been able to wear here until now! 🇺🇸🩸🇺🇸

The image shows a close-up of a person's arm with a tattoo, where a needle is inserted for medical purposes. Blood is being drawn and is connected to a machine nearby. The background includes a medical setup with a monitor and a fan.

CW: needles, blood

I’ve lost track of how many donations this is, both blood and platelets, but this is definitely in my top three ways to spend a Sunday morning.

#GiveBloodSaveLives
#PlateletDonation

2025/05/07: My first #CarterBloodCare #PlateletDonation in #May has me wearing my new #Wookiees T-shirt for #StarWarsMonth! 🌟🩸🌟

🩸 50 Platelet Donations.
50 Chances to Save Lives 🩸
📍 Learn more or register to donate at blood.co.uk
❤️ Let’s save lives together.
#GivePlatelets, #BloodDonation, #DonateBlood, #SaveLives, #NHS, #PlateletDonation, #BloodDonor, #PlasmaDonation, #DonorJourney, #BloodHero, #50thDonation, #BeAHero

An arm with a medical IV setup is shown, featuring a tube connected to a machine used for blood platelet donation. The background includes medical equipment and a window.

Nice way to spend a Sunday morning.

If you can #GiveBlood or #GivePlatelets, please do ♥️

#FreeBiscuits
#PlateletDonation
#GiveBloodSaveLives

2025/03/19: Feeling the #LuckOTheIrish during my @carterbloodcare.bsky.social #PlateletDonation for #March with today’s phenomenal #phlebotomist! 🍀🩸🍀

#plateletdonation

#nybc post:
1. My body retains iron like a champ- despite my perimenopausal uterus.
2. I got a new gauze color!! Serving old roller derby elbow pads!
3. They offered me free socks (that I will most likely use with my students)
#newyorkbloodcenter #blooddonation #leukemiaawareness #PlateletDonation

2025/02/10: My first #CarterBloodCare #PlateletDonation for #February while participating in #BlackHistoryMonth festivities with my #Marvel #Photon T-shirt — a.k.a. #MonicaRambeau from the #MCU’s #WandaVision and #TheMarvels! 🤎🩸🤎

Started the day by rolling up the sleeves and giving a #plateletdonation to the #redcross.

Do a little good, take a little time, and save some lives!

#beagoodperson

A white vinyl bunny with a red ball of self sticking compression bandage with #2 written on it.

I woke up super early to donate platelets 🤣 then barfed with 3 minutes left (then finished donating). But three units of platelets means others hopefully get to see another day, so it’s still a win. The ball gets bigger! 🎉 Second #PlateletDonation for 2025.