Randall Pritchett hit a major milestone earlier this month.
The 71-year-old Gresham resident donated his 1,000th platelet unit to the American Red Cross Portland Blood Donation Center — an amount that is rarely achieved. Although those donations have saved thousands of lives, it’s never been about the accolades for Pritchett.
“Donating platelets is my way of giving back to the community,” he said.
According to the Red Cross, every 30 seconds someone in the country needs platelets. They are a key clotting component of blood that is crucial for cancer patients, surgical patients and bone marrow recipients. To be incorporated with the recipient, platelets must be transfused within five days of donation — so more are always needed because of the difficulty in accumulating a large supply.
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