Man donates blood 72 times just for fun

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: This man can put many Malaysians to shame – he has donated blood 72 times since 1975.
His motivation is simple.
“It’s fun!” grinned Abdul Jalil Idris, 56, a senior administrative assistant at the University Malaya Medical Centre’s (UMMC) Human Resource Department.
The father of three said he donated blood 41 times at UMMC in the past six years, and he would keep on doing so until his blood donation book was filled up.
Another frequent donor is 26-year-old lab technologist Koh Chun Haw who has donated 27 times since 2000.
“I first donated blood for my friend when he got into an accident. Now I donate because I want to save more lives,” he said.
His colleague Tan Say Koon, who had donated blood eight times, said his aim was to help people.
Their generous donations were celebrated at the World Blood Donor Day ceremony at UMMC yesterday.
UMMC director Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin said: “We at UMMC are grateful to donors who donate without expecting anything in return.”
Transfusion medicine department senior manager Dr Cynthia Gladys Lopez, who was at the ceremony, said that UMMC does not have to rely on the National Blood Bank.
“We also encourage more voluntary altruistic donors than replacement donors (family members), as blood from replacement donors are not considered the safest,” she added.
Gifts and certificates of appreciation were presented to those who had donated blood six times or more.