GIVING BLOOD 300 TIMES
Mr Thomasz, who is now retired, is among a small number of donors in Singapore who have given blood more than 300 times.
While his first donation was during a time of great need, the hundreds of donations after were voluntary. He was also inspired by his father, who gave blood dozens of times.
“I got to do my duty, I never thought of how much my blood can be used, for what purpose and for whom,” he said.
He started making full blood donations – which can only be done once every three months – before moving on to apheresis donations, which can be done monthly.
Apheresis is an automated process where machines draw blood from the donor, and extract the plasma, platelets or red cells, before returning the remaining components to the donor.
It takes longer, with each donation taking 45 minutes to one-and-a-half hours.
These days, Mr Thomasz meets friends or former colleagues and they go to the blood bank together to “do our duty”.
He added: “Looking back, I think it has been a worthwhile journey. Giving back to society was a part of me … I could just give without any attachments.
Mr Pang, who eventually came to know Mr Thomasz, said giving blood has become a habit.
“I look at it this way … You give, they live. You don’t, they die. I mean, it sounds terribly unforgiving, but that’s the hard truth,” he said.