TEMPLE, Texas — Can you imagine donating enough blood to fill up more than 12 and a half gallons?
That's a new milestone for a Central Texas man. Mark Labaj, who has been donating blood for 35 years, has now donated for the 100th time.
"As long as I can I will," Labaj said.
It wasn't the first time Labaj went into Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in Temple and it probably won't be the last.
Labaj started donating blood 35 years ago as a way to get a free car seat for his first-born child. He said the second time was really easy so he thought he would go when he could.
He then started donating enough blood that medical professionals invited him to an annual dinner where they honor donors.
It was at that dinner where he heard the stories of people who said their lives were saved by someone who donated.
"Now, as a chaplain [of the hospital], I have seen firsthand how blood products can mean the difference between life and death," he said.
His 100th donation is very special because the same person who did his first blood draw did his 100th.
"I guess one of the simple answers is it makes me feel old," Lubaj said.
He averages six donations a year, and he alternates seven one year, five the next.
Labaj donates one pint of blood per drawing. If you do the math, 100 pints equals more than 12 and a half gallons – the amount of blood that is inside a total of about 10 people.
The amount of blood you could donate if you begin at 17 and donated every 56 days until you reached 79 is 46.5 gallons.
"I never thought even at the first time that I would get to 100," Labaj said. "It's just one of those things that can happen when you do something over time."
According to Givingblood.org, 4.5 million Americans will need a blood transfusion each year and a person must wait 56 days between whole blood donations. A total of 43,000 pints of donated blood are used each day in the United States, and someone needs blood every two seconds.
Only 37% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood but less than 10% donate annually.
About one in seven people entering a hospital needs blood, and each pint of blood donated can save up to three lives.
"It's part doing something for the life of somebody," Labaj said.
It's a deed he doesn't expect a "thank you" for.
"I just encourage anybody that's ever dismissed the idea of being a blood donor to donate," he said. "It only takes a few minutes."
Labaj hopes others can have the courage to donate blood to help save someone else's life.
If you are interested in finding a blood drive near you, click here.
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