Every two seconds, someone ill or injured needs blood. It’s safe to say that 66-year-old Timothy Evans, with 149 donations, has saved many lives!
In March of 2004, Evans began a special type of double red blood cell donation. It’s collected through a special process called Apheresis (Latin: “to withdraw”). This process allows donors to safely donate certain blood components in larger quantities. During the donation, blood is drawn into a machine which separates the red cells from the rest of the blood. The red cells are collected, while the rest of the blood is returned to the donor. Evans’ blood type is O positive which is especially important because it can potentially be transfused to all patients with a positive blood type.
The double red blood cell donation can only be collected three times a year at 112 day intervals. Since the beginning of the program, Evans has donated double red cells 16 times, carefully planning his donations in order to donate both double red cells and whole blood, too.
