LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Someone is in need of blood every two seconds, but the average person only donates twice a year.
But that's not the case for Katrin Olemacher, who just donated for the 243rd time.
Every eight weeks, Olemacher saves at least three lives by making a commitment to donating.Â
"I have been giving blood and platelets for 50 years," she said. "I do it because I know I'm helping somebody."
Olemacher sits in a reclining chair at the American Red Cross Blood Donation Center in Louisville, giving something that can't be manufactured — blood.
"I have given 30 gallons of blood," she said.
Thirty gallons and three pints, to be exact. She has O positive blood, which is the most common blood type and is highly compatible globally.
"It could be the blood you're donating today to help someone you don't know," John Davis, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross.Â
According to the American Red Cross, someone in the U.S. needs blood or platelets every two seconds. A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood.
There are very few donors like Olemacher. Davis said blood supply levels are vulnerable and more donations are needed.
Blood supply shortages are impacting Kentucky Blood Center, too. When people donate there, the donations stay in Kentucky and serve local families.
"We don't have enough of those donors," Eric Lindsey from KBC said. "About 64 (%) to 65% of the population is eligible to give blood, but only about 3% does."
Lindsey said every 1 in 4 people will need a blood donation in their lifetime.
"That one whole blood donation can save up to three lives, whether it's a cancer patient in a hospital, someone who has experienced trauma, a mother during childbirth, somebody that's going through a routine surgery, there are real people on the other end of that blood bag, and they are counting on you," he said.
For Olemacher, the payoff is worth it.
"The reward that you can think of giving to other people is worth all the time that you spend here," she said.Â
She has saved an estimated 700 lives or more with her commitment to giving blood.
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