Tuesday, March 09, 1999
Faithful donor revered
44 gallons and counting for 67-year-old
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
VILLA HILLS — Forty-eight years after he first gave blood for a Red Cross wartime promotion, Paul Michels is one of the Tristate's most prolific donors.
For his efforts, the 67-year-old Villa Hills resident recently was among 12 nationwide donors inducted into the Apheresis Hall of Fame.
“You just don't find faithful donors like him,” said Marsha Terry, the director of communications for Hoxworth Blood Center, which supplies blood to 25 Tristate hospitals.
“He's a super, dependable guy who gives regularly. He's even convinced two of his sons to become regular donors.”
His frequent donations aside, Mr. Michels, president of Paul Michels & Sons Inc. highway construction in Fort Wright, is even more special, because his rare, type O negative blood makes him a universal donor, Ms. Terry said.
“His blood type is what they carry on the Air Care flights,” Ms. Terry said.
Mr. Michels first donated blood in December 1951. He was in the service, and his brother, Joe, had recently been wounded in Korea, so Red Cross officials asked the two to pose for a picture as Paul Michels donated blood.
The Northern Kentucky native continued donating while in the service, and after his discharge, as he attended the University of Cincinnati Evening College.
In the early 1960s, he started giving platelets, a component of whole blood that is often used to treat leukemia and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
While the process takes longer than donating whole blood, it can be done more often because the body replenishes platelets faster than whole blood, Ms. Terry said.
Now on his 44th gallon of blood, Mr. Michels hopes to donate his 50th gallon by his 70th birthday.
Mr. Michels' donations are especially welcome, because only about 5 percent of the eligible population donates blood each year, Ms. Terry said.
“We need about 300 donors every day to meet the needs of Greater Cincinnati patients,” she said.
As a member of a local board that promotes apheresis, or the procedure that refers to withdrawing a specific blood component, Mr. Michels takes every chance he gets to discuss the need for blood donations with senior citizens and church groups.
“People always ask me, "Why do you give so much blood?'” Mr. Michels said. “In my early years, I gave blood because I didn't have much money, and there wasn't anything else I could give.”
In his middle years, Mr. Michels said, he continued to donate out of appreciation for his six healthy children.
“Now, in my later years, I give out of pure appreciation for my health, my wife Kate's health and my family's health,” the grandfather of 12 said.
“It's good for the soul.”
Hoxworth Blood Center has seven neighborhood donor centers in the Tristate. For information, or to schedule an appointment, call 451-0910.
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