[Marc]

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.

[Marc]

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.

[Omah]

40 pints a year ?

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

Male donors can donate 470 ml, which is just under a pint, 4 times in 12 months with a minimum interval of 12 weeks between donations. We advise female donors to donate at an average of 16 weeks or more to reduce the risk of iron deficiency.

[lostalex]

Fantastic. Good on ya mr. Mendenhall.

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

[joeysteele]

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.

[Ammi]

....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...

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by joeysteele

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.

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

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Omah

40 pints a year ?

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

Clearly they were more relaxed back in the day

[Omah]

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

How often can I donate blood?

You must wait at least eight weeks (56 days) between donations of whole blood and 16 weeks (112 days) between double red cell donations. Platelet apheresis donors may give every 7 days up to 24 times per year.

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

[lostalex]

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.

[Shaun]

Wow. That's dedication. What a hero

[Marc]

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!

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

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.

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

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

The Platelet Donation Process (UK)

A cuff is placed around your arm, the skin cleaned, local anaesthetic may be injected and the donation needle inserted. Blood samples are taken at this stage for testing in the same way as whole blood donations. Additional tests carried out for platelet donors including checking your platelet count and determining your tissue type (so that your platelets can be matched to those of a particular patient if needed).

During the procedure, blood is withdrawn, mixed with anticoagulant to prevent clotting and processed by spinning to separate the platelets. The rest of the blood is returned to you, which is why it is safe for you to donate at a much higher frequency than whole blood during the procedure, any white cells that remain in your platelet donation are also removed as these could cause problems in a patient despite being harmless to you. All the tubing that blood comes into contact with is sterile and disposable. There is, therefore, no risk of 'catching' any infection. Also, during the return of your blood, air detectors ensure that none of the sterile air present in the collection gets passed into your vein. If a detector identifies air, the machine will automatically shut down and can only be restarted when the air has been removed.

Once you join the platelet panel, we ask you to give platelets only. This helps us maintain our supply of platelets to patients by having a panel of committed donors on whom we can call. If you wish to return to donating blood after donating platelets, then you will need to wait 4 weeks before donating blood.

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

[Marc]

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

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Marc

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.

[lostalex]

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.

[Nedusa]

Originally Posted by Omah

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

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

[Me. I Am Salman]

That makes me feel uneasy for some reason