'Stuck' at the local blood bank for years
Donor to be honored today for 50 gallons of blood he's given
By Tim Gallagher, Journal staff writer | Posted: Thursday, September 04, 2008
Don Wood (standing) of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, visits with Jerusalem Grimsley of Dakota City, Neb., as Grimsley donates blood platelets Wednesday at the Siouxland Community Blood Bank. Both men are EMTs and frequent blood donors. Grimsley, by the way, was born on the steps of his church in Denver 27 years ago. "My pastor named me Jerusalem because I was born on the church steps," he says. (Photo by Tim Gallagher)
SIOUX CITY -- Don Wood has been stuck with a needle 400 times.
Officials with the Siouxland Community Blood Bank like to think he's helped save 1,200 lives.
And that's why they're honoring him at 10 a.m. today as he tops off the 50th gallon of blood he's donated over the past 41 years.
Fifty gallons. That's the size of a barrel of oil, the kind of container often used as an outdoor trash can or burn barrel.
That's a lot of blood, Mr. Wood!
Tavia Heyer, marketing specialist with the Siouxland Community Blood Bank, reports Wood is the first volunteer to reach that level of giving in the blood bank's history. The bank, at 1019 Jones St. in Sioux city, was founded in 1967.
Wood began giving the way most do: A friend of the family needed blood.
"My dad had a college friend injured in a fall at home," says Wood, 63. "In those days, if you needed blood, somebody would donate a unit in the name of the injured person and the hospital would not charge that person for a unit. My dad had a heart condition and was on blood thinners, so he couldn't give."
Don Wood gave his first unit that day. He's never stopped. It has taken him 400 visits to reach 50 gallons.
"My father was a mortician, so the blood and needles were never a problem for me," says Wood.
Obviously. Wood has a little scar tissue on the inside of both arms, the result of a couple of hundred pokes to draw his A-positive blood.
"I give as often as they allow," Wood says. He used to give 25 times per year when rules allowed. These days he's on a once-per-month schedule. He now gives blood platelets, a process that involves having blood withdrawn and separated. The local bank keeps the platelets and sends the whole blood back into his system.
"Platelets are more vital in things like burns and cancer than whole blood," he says.
Although he's never met a recipient of his donated blood, Wood is satisfied knowing he's helping someone, whether that someone is from Mitchell, S.D., or Carroll, Iowa, or somewhere in between. The Siouxland Community Blood Bank is the sole blood supplier for 37 hospitals in that region.
"I give, as that's the way I was raised," he says. "If you can help someone, that's what you do."
He has never curtailed his normal activity on the day of a blood donation. Years ago, he'd play softball in the heat of summer after having blood drawn.
The man who will stand next to a 50-gallon drum today to illustrate his dedication is called a model giver by Jan Twait, executive director of the Siouxland Community Blood Bank.
"Our goal is to get every donor to be loyal," says Twait, who was on the floor drawing blood here in 1970 when Wood, a Whiting, Iowa, native, moved to Sergeant Bluff. "We will always be in need, as there are things happening every day in our hospitals; babies are being born and surgeries are happening all the time."
Beyond regular needs there are occasional traumas that send demand for blood soaring. Officials estimate three lives may be saved with each unit of donated blood.
The night of June 11, for example, four Boy Scouts were killed and dozens injured with a tornado ripped through the Little Sioux Scout Ranch near Little Sioux, Iowa. Twait put out the call for local blood donors at 8 p.m.
"By 8:45 that night, there was a line right outside," says Heather Marreel, director of recruitment for the Siouxland Community Blood Bank. By the end of the night, 500 donors had given blood, many of them first-timers.
"It was so neat to see kids texting each other while they waited in line," Marreel says. "They were telling each other to come hang out at the blood bank."
Hopefully, Marreel says, those rookie givers will return.
To the place where Don Wood has been "stuck" for years.
10 a.m. event
Staff members at the Siouxland Community Blood Bank in Sioux City will honor Don Wood of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, at 10 a.m. today for being the first donor in the organization's history to reach the 50-gallon level. Wood, 63, will mark the occasion by giving blood platelets. Officials are hoping 50 other donors will honor Wood's 50-gallon status by giving blood today.
Officials with the Siouxland Community Blood Bank like to think he's helped save 1,200 lives.
And that's why they're honoring him at 10 a.m. today as he tops off the 50th gallon of blood he's donated over the past 41 years.
Fifty gallons. That's the size of a barrel of oil, the kind of container often used as an outdoor trash can or burn barrel.
That's a lot of blood, Mr. Wood!
Tavia Heyer, marketing specialist with the Siouxland Community Blood Bank, reports Wood is the first volunteer to reach that level of giving in the blood bank's history. The bank, at 1019 Jones St. in Sioux city, was founded in 1967.
Wood began giving the way most do: A friend of the family needed blood.
"My dad had a college friend injured in a fall at home," says Wood, 63. "In those days, if you needed blood, somebody would donate a unit in the name of the injured person and the hospital would not charge that person for a unit. My dad had a heart condition and was on blood thinners, so he couldn't give."
Don Wood gave his first unit that day. He's never stopped. It has taken him 400 visits to reach 50 gallons.
"My father was a mortician, so the blood and needles were never a problem for me," says Wood.
Obviously. Wood has a little scar tissue on the inside of both arms, the result of a couple of hundred pokes to draw his A-positive blood.
"I give as often as they allow," Wood says. He used to give 25 times per year when rules allowed. These days he's on a once-per-month schedule. He now gives blood platelets, a process that involves having blood withdrawn and separated. The local bank keeps the platelets and sends the whole blood back into his system.
"Platelets are more vital in things like burns and cancer than whole blood," he says.
Although he's never met a recipient of his donated blood, Wood is satisfied knowing he's helping someone, whether that someone is from Mitchell, S.D., or Carroll, Iowa, or somewhere in between. The Siouxland Community Blood Bank is the sole blood supplier for 37 hospitals in that region.
"I give, as that's the way I was raised," he says. "If you can help someone, that's what you do."
He has never curtailed his normal activity on the day of a blood donation. Years ago, he'd play softball in the heat of summer after having blood drawn.
The man who will stand next to a 50-gallon drum today to illustrate his dedication is called a model giver by Jan Twait, executive director of the Siouxland Community Blood Bank.
"Our goal is to get every donor to be loyal," says Twait, who was on the floor drawing blood here in 1970 when Wood, a Whiting, Iowa, native, moved to Sergeant Bluff. "We will always be in need, as there are things happening every day in our hospitals; babies are being born and surgeries are happening all the time."
Beyond regular needs there are occasional traumas that send demand for blood soaring. Officials estimate three lives may be saved with each unit of donated blood.
The night of June 11, for example, four Boy Scouts were killed and dozens injured with a tornado ripped through the Little Sioux Scout Ranch near Little Sioux, Iowa. Twait put out the call for local blood donors at 8 p.m.
"By 8:45 that night, there was a line right outside," says Heather Marreel, director of recruitment for the Siouxland Community Blood Bank. By the end of the night, 500 donors had given blood, many of them first-timers.
"It was so neat to see kids texting each other while they waited in line," Marreel says. "They were telling each other to come hang out at the blood bank."
Hopefully, Marreel says, those rookie givers will return.
To the place where Don Wood has been "stuck" for years.
10 a.m. event
Staff members at the Siouxland Community Blood Bank in Sioux City will honor Don Wood of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, at 10 a.m. today for being the first donor in the organization's history to reach the 50-gallon level. Wood, 63, will mark the occasion by giving blood platelets. Officials are hoping 50 other donors will honor Wood's 50-gallon status by giving blood today.
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