Every other Wednesday, you can find Mike Adams sitting in the chair at The Blood Center in Metairie, Louisiana. By his own account, Adams is a quiet, unassuming suit salesman at a local mall. Others at the center call him the “Man with the Golden Arm.”
After decades of donating blood, the 72-year-old reached a milestone in January. Since the 1990s, Adams has donated 400 times, amounting to 50 gallons of blood. There are no records of another donor in the area coming close to Adams’ 50-gallon feat.
Adams remembers as a young boy learning the 12 principles of Boy Scout Law — which he is still quick to recite — and has continued to live by them throughout his life.
“I think it’s spectacular that we are able to donate to give back to each other,” he told the PBS NewsHour. “We should be ready to sacrifice for each other. When I was a Boy Scout, that’s how we lived our lives. Do a good deed daily.”
Every blood donation can save up to three lives, so the center estimates that Adams has likely helped 1,000 lives by donating lifesaving blood products.
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