WHEN local resident Guy Hankinson was invited to the African, Middle East & Indian Ocean (AMI) conference, hosted by the Round Table International in Madagascar last month, he had no idea about the honour about to be bestowed upon him.

The 39-year-old, himself a member of the Round Table of Durban No. 2, was awarded the Round Table International Honour Medal.

The medal is a prestigious award and recognises Tablers who go above and beyond in their local and international communities.

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He was awarded the medal for his service in donating blood at various South Africa National Blood Service donor centres, 196 times.

Hankinson was presented with the medal by the president of Round Table International, Christ Mintoff.

“Through Round Table I have travelled around the world and when this invitation came to travel to Madagascar I was looking forward to it. I had no idea about the medal but it’s been a childhood dream of mine to visit the country to see its wildlife. While we were sitting in the meeting, the president of Round Table International, who I’ve known for years, called me up in front of the other attendees and asked a question.

“He asked ‘how many times have you donated blood?’ to which I replied ‘196 times’. I still didn’t suspect anything and tried to sit down again but he told me to hold on. When he awarded me the medal I was in total shock, I really wasn’t expecting it. It was a great honour and surprise. I had already had a great holiday but then earning this medal just capped it off to an amazing visit,” he said.

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Hankinson, an attorney by trade, was inspired by his grandfather, John Hankinson, who donated blood more than 600 times.

“He was my inspiration and I’ve now been donating blood since my first year of university in 2006. I still have a tie he gifted me with the number 500 on it when he donated. We don’t really think of it but donating blood has a massive impact and I’ve tried to stick to donating twice a week. I enjoy just helping people and it’s really not a hassle, I work while donating,” he said.

Hankinson said his goal is to try to get to 200 donations by his 40th birthday in a few months’ time.

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