Mr Robert Chew was 18 and on his way to donate blood when he noticed a girl and her mother at the entrance of Singapore General Hospital staring at the people walking in.
He walked up to the girl and asked her why she was there. Nervous and flustered, she said her father was in the hospital and needed blood.
He told her: “Don’t worry, just follow me, give me your father’s name and I will donate blood to him.”
Mr Chew, now 69 and a semi-retired businessman, has given blood a total of 184 times, with the latest donation as recent as last month (20 Nov). He contributes to the blood bank three to four times every year.
He is among the oldest and top blood donors in the country, said the Singapore Red Cross, which recruits blood donors.
The blood bank typically draws between 350ml and 450ml of blood from each donor. Mr Chew’s 184 donations would have added up to more than 70 litres of blood, or about 210 cans of drinks.
Repeat donors of whole blood, as opposed to blood components like plasma, can donate up to the age of 70. “I don’t see a point in stopping my donations despite my age because each donation can save potentially three lives,” said Mr Chew. Over five decades, that would mean making a difference to 552 people.
His two daughters also donate blood from time to time.
Mr Chew said: “If one wants to start doing something, do it wholeheartedly.”
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Source: The Straits Times, 18 December 2018