- Alissa Delia, 34, first spotted her old schoolmate Doug while donating plasma in 2019
- After losing touch when Doug changed his donation day, the pair reconnected years later through a surprise Facebook message
- Now a couple, Alissa and Doug continue to donate together and have made an incredible 385 donations between them
Here Alissa Delia, 34, Modbury, SA shares her own story in her own words.
Getting comfortable in the donor chair, I watched my blood go up and around the tubes as I scrolled Instagram.
A regular at the Lifeblood Modbury Donor Centre, I started donating when I was just 16.
Lifeblood was a cause close to my heart. My great aunty had needed blood transfusions and a bone marrow transplant during her fight with blood cancer, and another loved one was diagnosed with blood cancer at 72.
There for my donation in August 2019, I was in the waiting room when I noticed a familiar set of eyes gazing in my direction from across the room.
I recognised the man’s face instantly.
Read more: Donating Blood Found Me A Hubby!
Doug, then 26, was two years below me in high school and we were in the same band and choir, although we’d never really chatted much back then.
In the early years after high school, Doug was one of those friendly faces that popped up at church events. Meeting at the snacks table after we’d finished our donations that day, we chatted over a juice box and popcorn.
I was in a relationship at the time, but still I noticed Doug’s kind eyes and warm smile.
It turned out our plasma donations were in sync, so we continued bumping into each other every two weeks at the centre.
Slowly but surely, seeing Doug became a highlight of my fortnight!
A couple of years later, in June 2021, Doug didn’t show up for our donation slot. And he missed the next few sessions too. It wasn’t the same without his friendly face.
‘Have you seen Doug recently?’ I asked the friendly staff.
‘He’s been donating on a different day,’ she replied. I felt a pang of disappointment, as I missed his company.
A few years later, in October 2025, I was watching the telly when my phone pinged with a Facebook message.
It was Doug. By then my relationship had ended, so seeing his name made my heart skip a beat.
A change in Doug’s work schedule had meant that he’d needed to change his donation days.
Are you still donating? he messaged, inviting me to join him on his next donation day.
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Meeting up at our next slot, it was like no time had passed. I learned that Doug had been donating for more than a decade, since 2014. A family friend had been battling leukaemia, and Doug had felt compelled to donate.
When Doug invited me to lunch after church a few months later in January, I felt excited.
As we got to know each other more over fish and chips, we learned we’d both been unlucky in love, and that we adored Disney movies and camping.
By the second date in February 2026, we were smitten and made our relationship official.
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Dancing in the kitchen, as we cook one of our favourite dishes, pasta Bolognese, I still pinch myself.
‘I feel so lucky that you messaged,’ I remind Doug often.
Returning to the place where it all began, the nurses were thrilled to see us walk in hand-in-hand.
‘We knew there was something going on!’ they giggled.
Visiting the donor centre has become one of our favourite things to do together. Between us we have donated 385 times!
I’m so grateful that giving blood found me love. Doug’s exactly my type!
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