"If you wanted blood to save your life, you wouldn't hesitate to have a needle in, so why not put a needle in to take it out and save somebody else's life?"
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It's as simple as that for Tamworth's top blood donor Lorraine Rennie.
She became one of 30 Australian women to reach the milestone of donating blood 500 times on Tuesday.
Many years ago she set herself the goal to make 500, and fulfilling it brought tears to her eyes.
"I won't just stop because I've hit 500," she said.
"I reckon I might get up to 85 years old or something, before I quit."
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Tamworth's top five female blood donors have between them made more than 1500 blood donations, helping to save 4500 lives.
Women outnumber men as blood donors, with 55 per cent of new donors being women, Tamworth Blood Donor Centre CSO Michelle Walker-Treda said.
"Which is interesting considering we're often pregnant or have low iron or low body weight, or we're breastfeeding," she said.
"But I guess that's just what us women do."
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood has teamed up with Australian artist and designer Jenny Kee to celebrate women who give blood with a bandage, which will be wrapped around the arms of donors who roll up their sleeves to donate this March.
Ms Rennie has spent hours and hours in the chair at the Tamworth centre giving "cheek" to the staff, she said.
"And they are the best needle stickers that's around," she said.
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Eva Baxter
Eva is a Northern Daily Leader journalist based in Tamworth. She covers health, politics, energy, arts & entertainment, business, community, and a bit of everything else.
Eva is a Northern Daily Leader journalist based in Tamworth. She covers health, politics, energy, arts & entertainment, business, community, and a bit of everything else.
