The 200th mark
Stuart Bates (64) has been giving blood to the South African National Blood Service since 1972.
He celebrated his 200th donation on November 15 with his wife Pat at his side.
“Two hundred, can you believe it?” says Stuart.
He started giving blood during the blood drives at work when he worked at PFG and has just carried on after he retired.
He reached his 100th donation in 1996 and decided to keep on going.
“At work my friend and I used to race to see who could fill the bottle first,” he says.
Stuart, whose blood type is A negative, says he feels good knowing he is helping people and encourages young people to start donating.
“It helps people and it doesn’t cost anything to donate.”
Sister Juliana Visser who works at the blood bank at the Avenues says each time you donate blood, you help three people.
“So Stuart has helped around 600 people so far,” she says.
