On July 7, 1977, Harold Mendenhall of Florida, now 84, started donating blood. It’s been 35 years now and Mendenhall has donated blood for more than 400 times.
Mendenhall started donating blood when his wife Frankie got diagnosed with breast cancer. After her death, Mendenhall was all broken. He then started donating blood on regular a basis.
Later it was found that Mendenhall has been donating 6 gallons of blood annually. Recently, it has been revealed that he has made his 100 gallons blood donation last month.As for Mendenhall, he was of the view that donation of blood was a way to cope with the grief of his wife’s death as well as that of his 2 sons. On every single donation, Mendenhall feels that his family has been complementing his veins.
“Giving blood can only be done by a human being, so that’s been my payback for my career, good health and all the blessings I’ve had”, said Mendenhall.
However, it is worth noting that Mendenhall donates platelets rather than whole blood, which means donation of 2 pints rather than of 1.
“Giving blood can only be done by a human being, so that’s been my payback for my career, good health and all the blessings I’ve had”, said Mendenhall.
However, it is worth noting that Mendenhall donates platelets rather than whole blood, which means donation of 2 pints rather than of 1.
Platelet donors like Mendenhall get credit for donating 2 pints every time they give at most blood banks, said Susan Forbes, OneBlood's spokeswoman. In that 2-hour procedure – about 8 times longer than donating a pint of whole blood – more than a gallon of a donor's blood is processed but less than pint is kept, Forbes said. Platelet doors can also give 24 times per year, compared to about 6 times for whole blood.
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