Ohio native's Fort Hood pit stop feeds 'passion for blood'

There's one given with 78-year old Al Whitney: If you're in his line of sight, he's going to ask you a five- word question: Are you a blood donor?

Whether recruiting, organizing drives, or donating, blood has been the former sailor's passion for more than 50 years.

It all started in 1965 with a pint of blood and a voice that said "Al, you can do more."

So he did, and for the next 35 years, the Cleveland, Ohio, native not only donated whole blood and platelets as often has regulations allowed, but he also organized more than 1,000 community blood drives through the end of 2000 when he decided to let the younger ones handle the drives.

That didn't stop the cheerleader for blood, and in 2007, Whitney started Platelets Across America to raise awareness on the importance of donating whole blood and platelets.

"The biggest problem with getting people to donate blood is that no one ever asks," he said during a recent visit to Fort Hood to contribute his 765th platelet donation. "You just have to ask people one on one," adding that it doesn't matter if he's standing in a grocery line or filling up the fuel tank of his Coachman motor home during his travels across America, it's important to start the conversation.

Although Whitney's whole blood donation tops five gallons, in the late 1960s he switched to platelets because he could donate more often.

"What I liked about it was I could do it more than once a week because there wasn't a limit back then," he said, adding that blood banks, however, prefer donors limit their contributions to 24 times annually because of the short lifespan of platelets. "This gives the blood banks an even supply throughout the year."

According to Robertson Blood Center phlebotomist, Jessica Johnson, the lifespan of platelets is five days, with two days needed for testing. That leaves each collection bag with a three-day shelf life.

"Platelets are greedy, which is why they only last a few days," said Johnson. "They need plasma so they can get their nutrition. After about five days, they've eaten everything in the bag, so then they start eating each other."

The special collection process--known as apheresis--takes about an hour. During the process, the donor's blood is drawn and spun through a machine to remove the platelets. The remaining blood components are then returned to the donor. Platelets are essential for clotting and are critical to patients with life-threatening blood illnesses such as leukemia, anemia and cancer.

To date, Whitney has carried his platelet campaign to all 50 states, as well as Australia and Canada.

Humble, yet outspoken, Whitney refuses to speculate how many lives have been saved via his blood products.

"It's not important," he said, "What's more important is getting the next donor in the door. I tell them that some mother is going to take her baby home from the hospital, some father will be able to walk his daughter down the aisle and someone on the battlefield will be able to celebrate another birthday because of you. Your donation is saving lives."

This was Whitney's second donation visit to Fort Hood.

Related Links:

Robertson Blood Center