Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | spring 2006
Daniel Ossian

 


SPRING 2006
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You're so vein

Giving blood saves lives.

That’s the bottom line for Daniel Ossian, who has given nearly 14 gallons – about 108 pints – since he began donating blood when he was a teenager.

And not only that, he points out, it’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s not at all painful.

“It’s the easiest way to help people,” he says. “It takes the least amount of time and does the most good.”

Ossian, a video communication specialist for University Extension, is so passionate about being a regular blood donor that he based the creative component for his 1994 ISU master’s degree around the topic. He produced a video targeted toward high school students, “Blood Donors of Tomorrow: Recruiting High School Students,” which is still being used at some area blood centers.

Five times a year Ossian coordinates a blood drive at his church in Ankeny for the Iowa Blood Center. And just about every eight weeks since 1984, he has donated a pint of his own blood at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames.

“When I donate, I guess I just have a good feeling about myself,” he explains. “You’ll never know how it’s used or who uses it, but it sure is nice to know it’s there if somebody needs it.”

-- C. Gieseke

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