Rialto resident Brian Hanson, 64, first donated blood 25 years ago after he saw an article about the need for blood in a newspaper.
On Wednesday, Aug. 17, Hanson reached his lifetime blood donation milestone, becoming a 100-Gallon Donor at LifeStream Blood Bank's San Bernardino Donor Center, 420 E. Hospitality Lane.
Hanson shared he started donating whole blood in 1997, then switched to apheresis in 1999.
"My first apheresis appointment was July 16, 1999,” said Hanson. “I remember it so clearly because that was the day John F. Kennedy Jr. died. Before my appointment, my family and I were around the television watching the news.”
Hanson’s wife, Dee, a 34-year LifeStream employee, is also a distinguished blood donor at 45 gallons.
"We met at LifeStream," he shared. “Dee was my phlebotomist at first. And now she is my wife!”
LifeStream is a local, nonprofit blood bank that provides blood products and services to more than 80 Southern California hospitals. For more information, call 800-879-4484 or visit LStream.org.