US Blood Donor Gives 100 Gallons In 35 Years
 

Harold Mendenhall, 84, started giving blood on July 7, 1977, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Last month, he reached 100 US gallons (83 imperial gallons or 666 pints).

Mr Mendenhall started giving blood when his wife Frankie was diagnosed with breast cancer.

When she died seven years later, Mr Mendenhall says he was lost.

He stopped by the blood bank on his way home from work and was soon donating up to 40 pints a year.

He said giving blood helped him cope with the loss of his wife and, later, his two sons.

"For some reason, I'm still here and I'm grateful," he said. "That's one of the reasons I keep donating."

Mr Mendenhall is especially coveted because he donates blood platelets - small cells in the blood which help with clotting.

As well as saving the lives of others, there are financial benefits for donors in Florida.

The local blood bank runs a reward programme, offering coupons for meals at restaurants.

What a great person! As soon as I read this article I signed myself up to give blood in two weeks time. It's so easy to do, please do it if you can. It's not painful, just a little uncomfortable for a short while.

:)

40 pints a year ?

http://www.blood.co.uk/giving-blood/faqs/

Fantastic. Good on ya mr. Mendenhall. :thumbs:

IMO they should make a law that only blood donors can receive blood transplants. That would make a lot more people donate I think.

That's a great deal of blood to be taking from someone,maybe the US has different rules to it but here in the UK no one.I would say, could ever be allowed to donate an average of 22+ pints a year.
I give blood but have never been asked to more than 3 times each year.

Full credit and admiration to the guy for being so generous,amazing achievement. Imagine the lives he will likely have had a part in saving.

....well done to him, that's quite something...it does make you think though, that vampires don't need to kill anyone because they could have a long lasting supply by taking a pint a day...well, once a week, but if they took blood from a few kind of regulars, they would have their pint a day without killing anyone...

The US is a much bigger country so they need more blood donations I imagine.

Clearly they were more relaxed back in the day :tongue:

American Red Cross
 

http://www.redcrossblood.org/donatin.../donation-faqs

So, platelet donors may give more frequently, but A PINT every 7 DAYS ..... :suspect:

The man gave up almost every platelet he had but you guys wanna tear him down, what kind of tall poppy syndrome is this.

A man can't even give his own plasma without being attacked and questioned and torn apart.

Wow. That's dedication. What a hero :love:

Aww the blood donor service said they can't do that date for me :( I have to look elsewhere.. good to know they're busy though!

The original article may not be entirely accurate according to this description :

http://www.blood.co.uk/platelets/the-donation-process/

So it seems that when you donate platelets, you don't donate a pint of blood, just some of the constituents ..... :idc:

Omah.. just let it be. It's clearly true as it made Sky News and I don't think they would have posted it without knowing the facts

IMO, it's clearly NOT true but that's where I'll leave it.

if he's American maybe they got mixed up between ounces and liters or miligrams or whatever they use. It's probably just a conversion problem.

How much blood are you allowed to donate coming from Tralfamadore...????

That makes me feel uneasy for some reason