SALISBURY — Thanksgiving and Christmas are traditionally considered the months of giving, but for David VanSlyke of Salisbury, his giving has spanned more than months, but years.

VanSlyke began giving the gift of blood starting in 1984 and is in his 40th year of donating this precious gift of life to the American Red Cross, and he has reached the 25 gallon mark.

His journey of giving started because of his wife’s need for blood and he said from this he felt he could “help somebody else where my wife got help from somebody else.”

It started, he said, when his wife Shirley VanSlyke had an ectopic pregnancy and the baby stayed in the fallopian tube. She didn’t know it at the time, he said, when it ruptured, only knowing that she felt odd. He was at his new job about 35 miles away; therefore, she called her mom because she wasn’t feeling good.

Because his wife was in shock and unable to call, David said he received a call from his mother-in-law telling him he needed to come home. 

“When I got home, she was in bad shape,” he said, bleeding internally and when the ambulance arrived, they couldn’t get a blood pressure because of the amount of blood loss.

It was because of this that he said he began to give, adding that “you just don’t realize that people need blood” you just don’t think about it until the need arises, and even with all the new things going on, he said with a laugh, “they haven’t made synthetic blood, and people need to give blood.”

Originally from Ohio, David said he donated nine times there from 1984-1987, moving here in February of 1987. At that time, he said he kept track of the donations on the back of a card, but now it’s easier to keep track as the donor gets credit on their account, which can be found on his Red Cross app.

His giving has been at multiple locations, noting that he gave at Salisbury’s Mary Elisabeth Hanford Dole Center when it was open, along with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, at churches, hotels, businesses and in the Red Cross mobile bus.

One thing that has helped him in donating, he said, is the fact that he doesn’t work first shift, having worked just second and third his whole career.

“So that has allowed me to give blood easier because I can give in the mornings or third shift I can give in early afternoons, I can switch my times around to give,” he said. “If you give blood before you start your day off, you can feel better. You feel like you can do something without being tired.”

David said that he has “given everything you can give” noting he has donated regular blood, power red, which is when they take out only the red blood cells, and he has given platelets.

Regular blood donations can happen every two months and would be equal to six pints a year, power red donations can be done every four months, and the platelets can be donated every two weeks, which he noted is a quick turnaround; however, he added, he has to go to Huntersville for that type of donation.

For each type of giving, the donor receives credits, including two for power red, platelets or plasma and one for regular blood donation, he said, and the 25 gallons, he said, “is everything associated with blood. All the different ways you can give.”

Giving as much as he has is rare, he said. It was about three years ago that he was at a blood drive at a church in Woodleaf and when he went to check in, the lady noted he had given a lot of times. At that time, he said, it was about 188 times, noting that it takes 200 times to get to 25 gallons. 

Not only has David reached that 200 mark, but has gone above as he had gone to additional donation events since that time and as long as he is able to give, he anticipates continuing and adding to his total.

He mentioned that age is not a donating factor, but one’s iron level, weight, blood pressure and heart rate are, and you must not be sick when giving. 

In fact, he added, he inspired his mom, who is 85, to start donating blood, and she is up to seven gallons herself.

When he first considered donating, David said he was scared because he had not been poked with needles very often when he was that age. He also didn’t know how it would affect him wondering if he would be weak and pass out or get nauseated. Thankfully, he said, he hasn’t experienced that and continues to give and through his giving is able to help others, noting that with cancer patients that need platelets, he said, “I’m just happy that I can do that because it’s free. I’ve got it and I can help them out.”

In addition to helping others, donors can receive rewards when they build up points including T-shirts, mugs and tote bags, said David.

Donors can also receive pins with numbers representing how many gallons they have donated. These are in a box at the donation sites for people to receive, he said, as he showed some of those pins, including those with the numbers 6, 9, 20 and 24. When asked if he received his 25, he laughed and said, “no, you have to order because they are so rare.”

When donating blood, he said you can see where it’s being sent on a map donation destination. His blood has gone as far as Manassas, Va., Charleston, S.C., and Atlanta, Ga. to help others in these locations.

With a platelet donation, David said he receives more detailed information about where it went and how it’s used.

When he gives platelets, he said he is helping those who receive them and with blood donations, they can be helping in an emergency situation just like when his wife needed to have emergency surgery and receive blood. With her getting that emergency blood, David decided very soon, within a month or two, that he needed to give blood, which, as the saying goes, “is the gift of life.”