CALGARY- A Calgary senior has marked an incredible, life-saving milestone.
On Tuesday, 78-year-old Doug Turner donated his 1,000th unit of blood to the Canadian Blood Services.
He started giving blood back in 1961, when he was a biology teacher at what is now Mount Royal University, after convincing his students to take part in a mobile clinic.
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One night, he was called to make an emergency donation.
“She said ‘we had an accident’…and a little gal about 18 years of age is in serious condition and she’s a hemophiliac. I asked the nurse, I said ‘her blood type wouldn’t have been RH negative group A, would it? She said ‘yeah’, and that was the point that sold me on continuing for the next 50 years.”
It took Turner 28 years to reach the 100 donation mark, and says he never imagined he would hit 1,000. He thinks he might finally stop when he turns 79 in October.
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