“My aim is to reach 200 donations”
Derek Parsons has been giving blood for nearly 60 years and recently made his 150th donation. Here, he tells his inspiring story in his own words.
It was during basic training that I was told that I had a rare blood type. I had envisaged many things joining the army in April 1965, but being asked to donate blood wasn’t one of them.
Reaching 175 donations nearly 60 years later certainly wasn’t something that crossed my mind.
Happy to have been asked to help, I went to Aldershot Military Hospital and was checked over then asked to lay down. I remember the bed was a canvas and wood cot.
Blood was taken using a needle and a rubber tube, which ran into a glass bottle. Once finished, I was told to lay down for twenty minutes and I was given a cup of tea and biscuits.
(Picture: Derek in his Army days in the mid-1960s)
Twice in my early army years, I was woken up in the middle of the night and taken to the British Military Hospital Rinteln where I gave double blood donations. I had to stay in hospital for 24 hours, but it wasn’t all bad as I was given plenty of food and Guinness.
I donated on two tours of Germany and many other locations all over the UK. One time, I was going on holiday when I got a phone call asking if I could help and if I was near Minehead.
Strangely enough, I was driving towards Somerset, so I drove to Minehead and gave an extra donation. I was thrilled that I could help.
The years have passed, one after the other, and the donations have followed suit. I am told I am one of very few people who have made 150 or more donations.
I keep on giving blood for many reasons, one of them being my grandson, Oliver. He was born 13 weeks prematurely and needed blood transfusions alongside the operations which saved his life. Doctors were not sure if he would survive.
Thankfully, Oliver is now 29 years old and doing very well.
(Picture: Derek aims to reach 200 donations)
I was told many years ago that all my donations were going to premature baby units. It made me feel warm inside – it still does – and I grew yet more determined to keep it up.
I have been blessed with an incredibly good and healthy life and hopefully I can keep on donating. My aim is to reach 200 donations.
I urge everyone not to hold back. Just one phone call can put you on the path to saving someone’s life.
Giving blood is extremely easy. The feeling you get after every donation is a sense of achievement. What makes it even better, is it is free. So, do it now!
Down Memory Lane
Only a very small fraction of donors will give blood 150 times, but another who has recently joined the club is Fred Brailey.
Regular readers may remember Fred, whose story launched our popular Down Memory Lane feature.
We sincerely thank and congratulate Fred for his long-standing, lifesaving contribution.