Gift of life – for 251st time
LINKSFIELD - Selwyn Gluckman reached a milestone when he donated his 251st pint of blood at the Linksfield Donor Centre
The Linksfield resident has been donating blood since 1969, he was a 17-year-old student at DurbanTechnical College when he started, and has been donating ever since. “After donating so much blood, you can actually feel it in your body when you need to donate again,” said the 61-year-old.
“It’s something I look forward to doing every time – giving back to the community is what makes me continue donating blood. The greatest feeling in giving blood is giving a gift to a stranger, it makes you feel good inside and it saves lives. It is such good feeling.”
Gluckman said he wanted to reach the 300=pint milestone but would continue donating beyond that.
“I want to carry on, I will stop donating when the machines stop working and they can no longer take my blood,” he joked.
Public relations practitioner at the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) Sini Subrayen congratulated Gluckman and encouraged members of the public to donate blood. “The SANBS needs to collect 3 000 units of blood every day, and without it many people could lose their loved ones,” he said.
Subrayen said statistics revealed that less than 1 percent of the population donate blood every year, which posed the real threat of hospitals experiencing blood shortages. “All it takes is 30 minutes of your time to donate blood and it won’t cost you a cent. Give the best gift, give the gift of life,” he added.
Details: 0800 11 9031, www.sabs.org.za
