Bermagui resident Robert Johnson is reading a book on the Black Summer bushfires during a bit of downtime while making a milestone 750th blood donation at the Garran Red Cross Lifeblood Centre.
To the humble 62-year-old, who has been donating blood or plasma since June 1976, Mr Johnson said the donation is no different from any he or anyone else has made. Each donation is special.
Last year, he made the seven-hour return trip to Canberra from his home at Bermagui while bushfires raged in all directions.
As a volunteer firefighter with his local Rural Fire Service brigade, Mr Johnson would rise at sunrise and drive to Canberra each fortnight and roll up his sleeves to donate blood. He’d then roll on his firefighting gear and get on a truck until sunrise.
It happened a few times during January and February last year, but he was never going to miss sitting in the chair to make the life-saving donations.
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