Libertyville woman, 80, has blood to share
Her 100th draw brings donation to 12.5 gallons
LIBERTYVILLE -- The balloons and cake surprised Doreen Lagoni, 80.
Another routine blood donation turned into a party to celebrate her 100th donation at LifeSource in Gurnee.
(Thomas Delany Jr./News-Sun)
• 60 percent of the population is medically eligible to give blood, but only 5 percent of the nation's population gives blood
• 4.5 million Americans would die each year without life-saving transfusions
• Someone needs blood every 3 seconds
• 3 out of every 100 people in America donate blood
Source: American Red Cross, Life Source
"I didn't expect this. You just need blood for the holidays," the Libertyville resident said to LifeSource employees, taking in the balloons and cake table.
"This is a stellar achievement. We are so proud of you and we thank you," LifeSource spokeswoman Tammy Basile told Lagoni.
Lagoni said she couldn't recall when she started giving blood, only that her first experience felt like nothing more than a routine blood draw.
"They talked me into it because it gives so much more back to people," Lagoni said.
She alternates between donating whole blood and platelets. LifeSource takes about a pint per whole blood donation. If all of Lagoni's donations were just blood, her 100th draw would have brought her total to about 12.5 gallons of blood.
An average adult has 10 to 12 pints of blood, or about 1.25 to 1.5 gallons, according to the American Red Cross.
Platelets are a component of the blood that helps clotting. They are donated through a process that separates platelets from the blood and returns the blood to the donor.
Platelets can safely be donated once a week up to 24 times a year. Whole blood can be donated every 56 days up to six times a year.
Lagoni donates two to three times a year, saying that she went whenever she felt good.
"This is such an important thing to do," Lagoni said. "I like the fact that I can still do it at 80."
There is no upper age limit on donating, Basile said. Donors must be 16 with parental consent (or 17 without), weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good general health.
"The blood that we collect at LifeSource stays in our community. You never know when someone you know or love will need blood," Basile said.
LifeSource has 22 donation centers, four of which are in Lake County -- Gurnee, Mundelein, Lake Bluff and Lake Zurich -- and distributes to more than 60 hospitals in the Chicago area, five of which are in Lake County -- Condell Health Network, Highland Park Hospital, Lake Forest Hospital, Vista Medical Center East and Naval Health Clinic.
"(Lagoni) will never know whose lives she'll save. I'm looking at what I call an anonymous hero," Basile said.
