Winter Garden man reaches major milestone, saving hundreds of lives in the process

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Winter Garden man reached a rare milestone on Saturday. Mark Mansfield joins the ranks of less than 300 Floridians who have donated over 100 gallons of blood. His donations have saved or sustained more than 800 lives during his 39 years of donating blood.

Mansfield made his first blood donation in the early 1980s, when his employer hosted a blood drive and the chief of security told him to “give it a try.” Mansfield has been donating ever since.

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In 2000, after reaching the 10 gallon mark, he was asked to about donating platelets. Mansfield donated platelets once a month for several years until a chance meeting with Ron Howard, who was achieving his 100 Gallon Donor milestone, inspired him to do more. “Ron became my motivation to step it up, so I started donating twice a month,” Mansfield said.

When Mansfield isn’t donating blood, you can find him in the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, working on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner.

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On Saturday, Mansfield joined an elite group of people reaching the 100 gallon donation mark since blood banking began during World War II. The Boeing engineer reached that goal at the OneBlood donor center in downtown Orlando. One hundred gallons equals the same amount of blood in the bodies of about 80 healthy adults.

“I have been donating blood in the same Michigan Avenue location in Orlando for the past 15 years,” Mansfield said. “I even synced my Saturday morning visits to the weeks I get paid.”

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According to the American Red Cross, someone needs blood every 2 seconds and platelets every 15 seconds, and nearly 4.5 million Americans need a blood transfusion each year.

“Blood donors are the first responders in our community,” said Daniel Eberts with OneBlood community and donor relations. “There is no substitute for blood. Blood donations are essential for surgeries, cancer treatment, chronic illnesses and traumatic injuries.”

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In General, healthy people age 16 or older who weigh at least 110 pounds can donate blood.

“During two visits, I donated from both of my arms for a total of four hours to provide granulocytes for an 8-year-old boy diagnosed with a rare cancer,” Mansfield said. “His mother later wrote all of his donors a thank you letter for helping him to become stable enough to travel to the Duke University Cancer Center for treatment. That really meant a lot to me.”

“I hope my story will encourage others to become blood donors too,” Mansfield said. “I encourage everyone who can to get on the couch next to me to give regularly. It only takes about two hours, but the need is great.”

Cox Media Group