Patrick Lee, 60, has a system for giving blood.
He always donates from his right arm. He always reads the Red Cross blood donation manual thoroughly. He always munches on raisins and pretzels at the canteen. And he always plans his next visit eight weeks early.
Despite 43 years of practice, Lee still cannot watch the needle when donating blood.
“I might pass out if I look,” Lee said. “I never look at the stick. Once it’s in there, I can look, but I don’t. I’d rather just not.”
The small fear has proven to be no obstacle for the A-positive hero. Lee has donated 160 times and has saved approximately 480 lives. This year’s Homecoming Blood Drive marked a new milestone: his 20th gallon donation.
“He doesn’t talk about (the accomplishment) very much,” Lee’s daughter Rebecca Hassis said. “I think the only reason it was significant for our family was because he would come home and say, ‘I earned my 10 gallon pin today’ or ‘I earned my 15 gallon pin today.’ He always just built it into his schedule.”
Lee’s latest milestone shares similar circumstances to that of his first donation on Nov. 15, 1968. Both occurred at MU Red Cross Blood Drives.
“I was 17 the first time I gave blood,” Lee said. “I think at the time you had to be 18, and I might have lied about my age. I just went and gave blood. I didn’t think much about it one way or the other, but it was something that I could do to benefit others. I went back in April of ’69 and gave again.”
The experience was just the beginning of a lifelong habit. Lee donated eight more times during his college career at MU before moving to Jefferson City and continuing with No. 9.
“We’ve known each other for 30 years,” friend Randy Hodill said. “I think it’s just one of the things he does. He believes in it and follows through and makes a regular point to donate. He is a man that acts on his beliefs.”
The father of six children, Lee has made blood donation a common occurrence not only for himself, but for his family as well.
“Every blood drive I would take extra packages of cookies or potato chips, that sort of thing, and go home and I’d give them to my girls,” Lee said. “They’d say, ‘Daddy’s gone blooding.’ That was their phrase, because I would bring them four bags of potato chips or four bags of cookies. All four of my older children have become blood donors.”
Lee’s family is a living example of his two main goals: to get young adults to donate and to encourage previous donors to do so on a regular basis.
“I think what makes it significant is to encourage people to get in the habit of doing this,” Lee said. “Whether they give once a year or every 56 days or twice a year, just to make it a habit. Habits are better learned early. If you can start when you are 17, 18 or 19, it’s easier than when you’re 30, 40 or as old as I am.”
Lee received his 20-gallon pin Wednesday, in addition to the usual canteen snacks and stickers.
“Hitting the 20 gallon mark is a rare accomplishment,” Red Cross Donor Recruitment Director Todd Wagner said. “He’s a wonderful donor for us. It’s a few and far between occurrence.”
