Pictou County's Ivan Glass honoured for giving blood more than 200 times

Ivan Glass has been recognized for surpassing 200 donations of whole blood. - Adam MacInnis

It was a co-worker who convinced Ivan Glass to donate blood.
The first time was in the late 1950s when Glass was living in Saskatchewan. The pair would go on their coffee breaks whenever the opportunity arose. At that time, you simply walked in, gave blood, had a drink and left.
Much has changed in the last 60 years. Glass moved to his wife’s family’s home province in the 1970s and made Pictou County his home. His blood donation has remained a constant, however.
Glass doesn’t know anyone directly who has needed a blood transfusion, but said he does it simply “because I can. I know a lot of people need blood.”
This month Glass is being honoured by Canadian Blood Services for making more than 200 donations of whole blood.
When he first started donating you could only give blood four times a year; now it’s approximately every 56 days or when there is a blood donor clinic in the area.
Glass has O – blood which is known as the universal blood type because it can be used to give blood to anyone.
“It doesn’t hurt,” he said of donating blood. “I’ve never had after affects. Some people claim they get weak, but it’s never ever bothered me.”
Regardless of blood type, Glass encourages others to donate.
“It just takes a few minutes of your time. There’s no pain involved. I think if you’re able, you might as well.”
Just because he’s reached 200, doesn’t mean he’s about to stop anytime soon.
“As long as I can donate, I’ll keep going,” he said.
Peter MacDonald, director of donor relations for Canadian Blood Services in Atlantic Canada says people like Glass are crucial to the Canadian Blood Services.
Three components are taken from blood donations: red cells, plasma and platelets. Plasma can be frozen for a year, but platelets only last seven days, so it’s important for donations to be made on a regular basis to maintain a fresh supply of blood.
Stats show that although one in two Canadians is eligible to give blood, less than four per cent do, which means a small group of voluntary donors carries the bulk of the load.
“Although we’d like it to be higher, we are very fortunate that within that four per cent there are some dedicated donors,” MacDonald said.
Canadian Blood Services will celebrate National Blood Donor Week beginning June 10. They will hold donor clinics that week in Pictou County from June 11 to 14.