Port Macquarie's Chris Roberts has never missed the opportunity to donate whole blood.
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He makes a donation every three months and has been doing so since 1965.
As of March 28 he had made 255 donations.
Mr Roberts also went to the extent of donating at a medical centre while on holidays on a Greek Island.
Prior to living in Port Macquarie, he travelled 100km from Inverell to Armidale each way to donate blood for six years.
"I didn't want to miss one," he said.
Mr Roberts had a six month break from donating in 2020 due to a knee operation. He was also sick in the 1980s, which meant he couldn't donate for two years.
Staying healthy
The 77-year-old wants to keep making donations as long as he can.
Mr Roberts said he aims to get plenty of sleep and eats healthy food.
He doesn't drink alcohol or smoke, and has recently decided to cut out added sugar and salt.
"It's very easy to donate blood, but of course you've got to be healthy," he said.
It takes Mr Roberts about 30 minutes to make a whole blood donation, which includes a small medical check up, interview, donation and refreshments.
He said the time to donate 500ml of whole blood is just seven minutes.
Most whole blood donations?
Mr Roberts said he has given the most whole blood donations in Port Macquarie.
A Lifeblood spokesperson said they couldn't confirm if Mr Roberts had given the most whole blood donations in Port Macquarie.
Prior to the digitalisation of records about 10 years ago, donations were written down on paper.
The paper records didn't distinguish between plasma and whole blood.
The Lifeblood spokesperson said Mr Roberts had made a very high number of whole blood donations.
"I don't imagine many people in Australia would have given that many whole blood donations," she said.
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Meanwhile Lifeblood is calling for more people to come forward to make a blood donation.
Lifeblood Donor Experience executive director Cath Stone said Lifeblood data shows that higher numbers of people are cancelling or rescheduling their donations due to cold, flu and COVID-19 symptoms in 2023 compared to 2022.
"We are expecting those cancellations to increase over the coming weeks so are asking people with O and A blood types to book a donation," she said.
"More than 80 per cent of the population has an O or A blood type, meaning these are the types most needed by patients.
"O Negative, the universal blood type, is found in fewer than seven per cent of the population, making it one of the rarer blood types, however its versatility means it makes up 16 per cent of the blood ordered by hospitals."
A Lifeblood spokesperson said the cancellation rate in regional NSW is currently four in 10 donors.
Twenty NSW SES volunteers are scheduled to roll up their sleeves to make a donation in Port Macquarie on Saturday, June 3.
