ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An Ohio man who has donated nearly 1,000 platelets of blood reached another milestone last week.
Al Whitney, 84, of Avon Lake, completed his goal of donating platelets twice in all 50 states, KOB-TV reported. Whitney’s platelet donation at an Albuquerque blood bank completed his cross-country goal for the second time, the television station reported.
“You’re saving a life with that fluid,” Whitney told KOB. “Yes, it’s blood, but that is a life that you’re giving to somebody else.”
According to Platelets Across America, Whitney began donating blood in 1965 in Lorain County. He began coordinating blood drives every eight weeks and also continued to donate blood on a regular basis, the website reported.
Whitney said he converted to platelet donations “sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s.”
Beginning in 1985, Whitney began holding weekly blood drives in Ohio.
“I continued running about 56 drives a year until I retired in 2000,” Whitney said. “My final year I was able to collect 2,069 units of blood for LifeShare Community Blood Services.”
In 2007, Whitney decided to donate platelets in every state, and Platelets Across America was born.
Sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s, I converted to platelet donations and continued holding blood drives every eight weeks.
“I donated and walked out of the blood bank waiting for the traffic light to change, and I heard, ‘Al, you can do more than that.’” Whitney told KOB.
It only took five years for Whitney to donate in 50 states, and it took nearly nine years to do it again.
“I’ve donated platelets over 975 units,” Whitney told KOB. “On my bucket list -- I’ll get to a thousand.”