At 88 years old, Lowell Collins has accomplished a feat few have in the entire country.

  • Leesburg man donates 150 gallons of blood in lifetime
  • Collins' blood used to help almost 3,000 people
  • Collins said he started donating in 1953

Collins has donated 150 gallons of blood in his lifetime, a milestone he reached recently at a OneBlood donation center in Leesburg.

“He’s the quiet hero, because he’s been doing this for years and years,” said Pat Michaels of OneBlood. “He doesn’t make a big deal out of it, but he’s probably saved more people than he could ever know.”

Collins has A- type blood, which is critical in treating not only trauma patients, but it also contains platelets that are crucial in helping to treat cancer patients.

Michaels estimates Lowell’s blood has been used to help treat almost 3,000 people over the years.

“I’ve got two or three letters. They told me they got my blood, and it makes you feel kind of good that you helped somebody,” Collins said.

OneBlood has millions of donors, but Collins is now among a group of about a dozen.

Collins said it started almost 64 years ago, in 1953.

“A woman at church told me her husband needed surgery, and she was wondering if I would donate blood,” he said. “I went over and donated, scared to death. I just got it.”

He hasn’t stopped since.

Collins donates blood regularly, even when times are slow, which turns out to be the most important time for OneBlood to prepare.

“When we have mass transfusions and tragedies, it’s the people who donated before that gave the blood that helped save those lives,” Michaels said. “It’s great to have hundreds and thousands of people come and donate after a tragedy, but it’s those people who silently gave days before whose blood went to the victims.”

“Some people would say they get to a point, and they’ll say, ‘I’ve done my share,’ but I’m going to keep going as long as I’m able to. (It) doesn’t bother me,” Collins said.