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Metro Detroit man has been donating blood for more than 40 years

Dan Graustein started donating in the 1970s

Dan Graustein has been donating blood since the 1970s.

“It’s the most important thing that I do because it has potential of saving somebody’s life,” he said.

It all started at the University of Michigan.

“In 1974, there’s a blood competition between Michigan and Ohio State, same week that the football game is, and they compete on who can donate more blood,” he said.

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Graustein remembers Ohio State winning the competition that year; however, the experience of giving blood to save a life won him over.

“I’m over 400 donations and 67 gallons of blood,” he said.

He said that in the past, the American Red Cross would donate your blood to one individual person.

“They called me up to donate. Two days before donating, they called me up and told me that person had expired. That kind of meant that this was pretty important,” he said.

Now as technology has evolved, blood donations can go to multiple people with a variety of needs.

And at 64 years old, Graustein has no plans to stop his donating routine.

“I have donated white blood cells, plasma platelets,” he said. “I feel a responsibility to donate as much as I can.”


About the Author
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You can watch Kim on the morning newscast weekdays from 4:30 to 7 a.m., and frequently doing reports on the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts.

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