Norman Man Makes 280th Blood Donation

A Norman resident made his 280th blood donation to the Red Cross on Monday.

Tom Ward, who has been donating blood since 1960 when he was 18 years old, donated his 35th gallon of blood at the Heart of Oklahoma American Red Cross Chapter in Norman Monday afternoon.

"You can donate every 56 days, I usually try to do that every two months," said Ward. "The Red Cross is always needing blood, of course the hospitals, too. It's something I could do pretty easy."

Red Cross officials say Ward gives only whole blood products which can only be donated every 56 days, and this is an American Red Cross high donor mark in Oklahoma.

"Every two seconds somebody in this country needs blood, and that statistic doesn't change. So it is up to the Red Cross to make sure that blood is available," said Jan Hale, communications manager for the Red Cross. "And when people needed that, they know that they can go to the Red Cross and expect us to have blood. And people like Tom Ward help us do that."

"I just kept at it. I wasn't trying for anything special. It took me 50 something years to get here. But you just hang in there," Ward said.

If you would like to donate blood, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment or for more information.