SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE

I went in to give blood the other day and saw a poster on the wall of University of Hawai'i star volleyball player, Tony Ching.  Tony happens to be the son of my classmate, Billy Ching.  Tony had been in a serious moped accident a few years ago and needed several pints of blood to save his life.  Grateful to come out of his accident alive, Tony agreed to become the "poster boy" for the Blood Bank of Hawai'i.

But the other image that caught my eye was an elderly man named Thomas Y.S. Au.   Listed on the wall of the blood bank, were pictures of dozens of people that have given at least 30 pints of blood.  At the very end of the list, was Mr. Au, with 230 pints (no one else was close to his total).  A person at the blood bank told me he was actually at 239 and on the next visit, they would start a new "240 pints" category.  Still giving blood in his 80's, Mr. Au will probably set a mark that will be very difficult to beat.  I'll do the math for you.

If Mr. Au gave blood 5 times a year (it's possible to give every 2 months), it would take him 48 years to come up with 240 pints.  Those 240 pints add up to 30 gallons of blood.  The number that can't be calculated are the countless number of lives he's saved by regularly giving his blood.  I'm sure it's dozens of people and with Hawai'i being as small as it is, chances are very good I either know or am related to someone he's saved.

Two things strike me as amazing.  First, that our bodies have the capability to reproduce the essential elements it takes to sustain life in others.  The average human has roughly 10 pints of blood, but can produce hundreds of pints over a lifetime and that blood can be transfused into others.  Second, and most amazing, is there are people in the world like Thomas Au that can give selflessly for almost 50 years so that others can live.  The people at the blood bank told me he's a caring, loving and humorous man that loves to interact with people.

Millions of people write checks everyday that help to feed, cloth, save and assist people less fortunate or victims of natural disasters.  But giving blood has nothing to do with wealth, money or power.   The poorest man in the world can save the richest man in the world simply by giving something his or her body produces naturally.  But the person who benefits the most is the person giving the blood because when you start to see the world beyond just yourself, you begin to truly understand your worth as a person and that worth grows with every good deed we do.

Just ask Thomas Y.S. Au.