PENOLA resident Bill Cheers has been dubbed a “bloody legend” by the Red Cross after recently donating blood for the 50th time.
Almost 150,000 Australians have received life-saving blood donations from more than 1000 Adelaide blood donors.
These blood donors are being celebrated this week for National Blood Donor Week and Mr Cheers is no exception.
Mr Cheers first started donating in 1997 when he was working at Adelaide Airport.
The Red Cross organised a mobile service and he decided it was something helpful he wanted to contribute to.
“I was in my 40s at the time and had never donated blood before,” he said.
“But when the opportunity arose, I knew it was something I had to do.”
Since that day more than 21 years ago, Mr Cheers has been donating blood as often as he can.
“When I was living in Adelaide I was donating as often as possible, but now I live in Penola it is a little bit harder,” Mr Cheers said.
“As you are only able to donate every three months and the Red Cross only visits our region then, it is tough to get the perfect timing.
“I also have a 100km round trip to donate, but I try whenever I get the chance.”
Donating blood is something Mr Cheers now feels is something incredibly important and he encourages anyone able to do their part.
“You never know when you or a family member will need blood,” he said.
“If fit and healthy adults are not donating then when the time comes they need help it may not be there.
“We all need to make sure we are doing what we can for those in need.”
Looking forward to the future, Mr Cheers said he had no plans of slowing down.
“There is no age limit on donating, but there is obviously a health limit,” he said.
“As long as I pass all the health tests I will keep on doing it for as long as I can.”
Blood service spokesperson Sally Lauder thanked all donors who have donated blood in the past year.
“Every 24 minutes across Australia, a bloody legend donates blood and saves lives,” Mrs Lauder said.
“At the Naracoorte Mobile Donor Centre, 295 donors gave almost 630 blood donations in the past 12 months, which is an outstanding effort.”
National Blood Donor Week is also a time when the Blood Service calls for more people to donate blood, both now and in the future.
“With donated blood only lasting 42 days, we need a constant supply of blood donations, which means we need more people to donate blood more often,” Mrs Lauder said.
“It takes just an hour of your time to donate blood and become a bloody legend and every donation helps save three lives.”
Call 13 14 95 or visit donateblood.com.au for more information.
