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Featured Donor: Daniel O'Donnell

Buffalo Area Man Recognized for Possible World Record

Daniel O'Donnell (seated) with his family

Daniel O'Donnell's first blood donation was perhaps the most important one he ever made. And that's saying something for an 80-year-old man who is credited with precisely 300 whole blood donations in his lifetime.

That's because it was that first donation -- a direct person to person transfusion that is hard to imagine by today's standards -- that instilled a sense of pride and responsibility into a then 16-year-old young man who had never experienced such a sense of accomplishment.

"It was my mother's friend from Ireland and she needed blood very badly," O'Donnell remembers. "Dr. Stanton just stood between us pumping a handle and transferring my blood right into the patient. It was a heroic thing back then--nobody talked about giving blood. It just felt great. I felt important. I remember how pleased my mother was to get her back."

Inspired by his generous act, O'Donnell spent the next few years donating whenever he had the opportunity, which was not often in the pre-World War II years. Then came the war, and his sense of duty led him to leave school at Buffalo State and ship out with the Merchant Marine. While in the service he had additional opportunities to donate blood, but was frustrated by the fact that he was not allowed to donate more than one pint and was limited to how often he could donate.

"I saw people lose a lot more blood than that, especially in the old days, so I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't let us donate more," he recalls. "When I heard I could only donate every 8 weeks I was angry. I really believed in it, and I knew it was needed."

The irony was not lost on him when, just a few years later, his brother-in-law developed a bone marrow problem and passed away at a young age. The experience of losing a family member that might have been saved by a blood transfusion motivated him even more.

"I said to myself at the time that I had plenty of good blood. I thought I could give twice as much as I was allowed to," he remembers. "And to be quite honest I think it's good for you (to donate)."

Driven by this renewed sense of purpose, O'Donnell soon found a way to donate on his own schedule. One day he noticed a Red Cross donation center on his way home from Church and decided to stop in and donate. A couple of weeks later he stopped in again and noticed the staff was different. Recognizing a trend, he soon began donating very couple of weeks.

"If they turned me down, I'd just go somewhere else to give," explains O'Donnell. Now, decades later, it is quite possible that Daniel O'Donnell has donated blood more times than anyone else ever has.

While the Red Cross recognizes 300 whole blood donations, even that number doesn't tell the whole story. In addition to his first direct donor-to-recipient donation back in 1938, he has several other donations that do not even count on his Red Cross totals. Yet, O'Donnell is surprised by the attention this feat may soon bring him. He says that he has never read the Guinness Book of World Records, but he is sure his 7 children and 9 grandchildren will get a kick out seeing him in a future edition.

Unable to donate blood anymore due to a corneal implant a few years ago, O'Donnell still wishes he could add to his total. Of donating blood heading into his ninth decade he says simply, "I'd feel a lot better if I could."