Both Marion and Rich at Winding Pathways are regular blood donors. Rich will reach a milestone in early April. He’ll give his 100th unit of blood to Impact Life in Cedar Rapids. Marion’s not far behind.
Giving blood is easy, costs nothing, and is a way we can help other people. Here are some interesting blood donation facts:
- An average donation is used to help three people, so Rich’s 100 donations have helped around 300 people and maybe saved some lives.
- A unit of blood averages about 500 milliliters, or a little more than a pint. Rich’s have averaged about 528 ml, so he’s given about 112 gallons over decades of giving.
- A person has 1.2 to 1.5 gallons of blood in their body, and a donation takes about 10% of it. The body replaces the lost blood. Donation centers require eight weeks between donations to allow for replenishment.
- Blood is typically given to people during surgery or for treatment of conditions like Sickle Cell Disease; to those who have suffered a trauma, like an accident; and during surgery or childbirth if needed.
Giving blood is easy. And, Marion gets a cool blood band decoration!
We hope we’ll never need blood but if we do we’ll quietly thank the unknown donor. Both Marion and Rich at Winding Pathways encourage everyone to become blood donors.
