“I have donated blood for friends undergoing surgery, to create and maintain a ‘family account’ which has on at least one occasion, covered my wife’s blood needs for surgery; and just because it is a good thing to do. I do apheresis to help cancer patients. I have many friends and relatives who have suffered the ravages of cancer, and I consider it my gift to them, in honor of them, and in their memory.”
- Christopher Dunkle, Donor -
Apheresis donations are needed every day!
Sam Miller, 325+ Apheresis Donations
 Sam Miller is no ordinary blood donor. Sam is at the Blood Center every other week like clockwork for apheresis donations and recently was the first BBR apheresis donor to hit 300 donations. When asked what prompted Sam to start giving blood in the first place, he recalls back to 1966 when he made his first whole blood donation at the age of 18 as a student at Whittier College.
Sam said that after his father contracted hepatitis during a surgery which required blood transfusion, “I realized the importance of having good blood.” Sam doesn’t know the exact number of donations he has made since that first whole blood donation 42 years ago, but since 1973 he has made 129 whole blood donations with Blood Bank of the Redwoods, in addition to his record-breaking 300 apheresis donations.
Sam is now retired and currently resides in Santa Rosa with his wife of 18 years, Betty.
“I donate because it’s a random act of kindness and I enjoy doing things like that. John Wooden, former basketball coach of UCLA, said something like 'You can’t have a perfect day unless you give something to someone who will never be able to repay you.'”
- Sam Miller, Apheresis Donor -
|
|
