Iranian blood donor saved 400 lives in 38 years
A man from the city of Saqqez in Kurdestan Province, west Iran, has set a record by saving 400 lives with 136 instances of blood donation in 38 years.
Mohammad-taher Tajvanchi began giving blood since the beginning of Iraq’s invasion of Iran in late September 1980, IRNA reported.
“After the Iraqi air raid on the city, the loudspeakers of the main mosque of the city invited the citizens with enough strength to go to the hospital and donate blood,” Tajvanchi said.
Saying that mass media did not exist like they do today, he added, “The loudspeakers and the blood donors were the only things that could soothe the injured and their families.”
Blood donation age is between 18 and 65, and Tajvanchi, 56, intends to go on with the donation for another nine years.
He believes that the people who donate blood regularly have better spirits and are healthier than others.
“My goal of blood donation is to save people regardless of their color, ethnicity, and religion,” Tajvanchi added.
There are a few donors in Iran that have donated blood more than 100 times.
Men can donate blood maximum four times each year while the number for women stays at two. Tajvanchi holds the record of his province. The world record of blood donation belongs to another Iranian, Mohammad-hassan Sheykholeslami, 84, who has donated more than 200 times, which was recorded in Guinness in 2003. He is an immune-hematologist.