Greenville resident Raymond Wedlake, 70, never thought much of blood donations in college, busy with a heavy engineering course load. When he entered the workforce, and found an employer that championed blood donations, he felt called to become a lifelong donor.
Since his first donation in 1982, Wedlake has logged 200 donations, from platelets, to plasma, to whole blood. Platelets, which are Wedlake’s most frequent type of donation, are small cell fragments in the blood that helps stop or prevent bleeding. They are used for surgeries, transplants, and to help cancer patients get through chemotherapy.
“It comes from a desire to serve others,” Wedlake said. He is very aware of the impact that platelet donations can have on those most in need. Wedlake’s wife has lymphoma, and during her last stay in the hospital, she received several units of blood. “Those units saved her life,” Wedlake said.
Those units are not available without donors giving their time generously to support local hospitals. The Blood Connection is the sole provider of all blood products for every hospital in the Upstate of South Carolina, so when someone in this area receives blood, it is thanks to a TBC donor.
Right now, The Blood Connection is experiencing a critical need for blood donors, with daily collections falling more than 180 units below the needed 800 units per day, on average.
Wedlake says he donates to help all people who need blood products, regularly frequenting The Blood Connection’s Woodruff Road Donation Center, where he plans to thank the staff that helps during his donations.
For more information about The Blood Connection, or to make an appointment to donate, go to thebloodconnection.org.
Prepared by The Blood Connection.