Judith Ingles helped save three lives last week.
But that’s nothing considering the 62-year-old Oxford resident has to date helped save 210 lives.
Ingles isn’t a doctor or a nurse. She’s a blood donor.
Ingles donated a pint of blood Friday during an American Red Cross blood drive held at American Legion Post 108 in Oxford.
A Red Cross volunteer for 10 years, Ingles organized last week’s six-hour drive, which netted 35 pints from 45 potential donors.
Over the years, Ingles has donated a grand total of eight gallons and six pints (or 70 pints) of her own blood.
“I’m working on my ninth gallon,” she said proudly.
“Each gallon represents 24 lives she’s made a difference in,” said Lake Orion resident Denise Drake, a Registered Nurse who works for the Red Cross. “That’s a huge number of people she’s helped.”
Each pint of blood can be broken down into three components – red blood cells, platelets and plasma – each of which has the potential to save a human life, Drake explained.
That means every donor is a “healer times three,” she said.
Here are some “common patient needs” and the “average amount of each blood component that is required” to help them, according to the Red Cross web site www.givelife.org:
n Accident victim – 4-100 units of red blood cells
n Cancer treatment – 2-6 units of red blood cells; 6-8 units of platelets daily for 2-4 weeks
n Open heart surgery for an adult – 2-6 units of red blood cells; 1-10 units of platelets; and 2-4 units of plasma
n Liver transplant – 10 units of red blood cells; 10 units of platelets; and 20 units of plasma.
n Heart transplant – 4-6 units of red blood cells
To donate blood call the American Red Cross at 1-800-448-3543.