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Transfusions most
urgently needed by cancer patients
Whitney , 71, from Ohio, is on a quest to donate blood platelets in every state. On Monday, January 11 he will visit our Overland Park Center, making Kansas the 34th state he has visited since starting in fall 2007.
Since he started donating his blood products in the 1960s, Whitney has given 614 units of platelets and five gallons of blood. He’s inspired by “just the idea that I’m saving somebody’s life. I’ll never know who they are, and that’s not important."
Whitney, a retired maintenance supervisor, came up with the idea of traveling to every state during a regular donation near his home near Cleveland, when he felt the need to do more.
Whitney uses his own savings to fund the trips and said he was too scared to keep track of what he has spent. When he’s in a new city, Whitney talks to church and community groups about the need for bloodplatelets. He isn’t paid for his donations or for his travel, but local blood centers typically pay for a night’s hotel stay.
Because he can donate platelets only every two weeks, Whitney returns home between stops. Then he shops around for airfare sales to pick where he goes next before contacting a donation center in that area.
As for Whitney, surely he plans to relax once the platelet tour is over, right? Wrong, he said. “Once I’ve completed all 50 states I’m starting over.”.”
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