Moss Beach Woman Becomes A Champion Of Blood Donation

PALO ALTO (KCBS)- On Linda Johnson's December 29th visit to the Stanford Blood Center she became a member of a very exclusive club.

"She's our fourth person to reach 500 blood donations, but the first woman," said Blood Center Communications Manager Brooke Wilson.

KCBS' Janice Wright Reports:

Johnson has been driving to Palo Alto from Moss Beach for over twenty years, because she likes the Stanford Center so much.

She donates both whole blood and platelets, which used to require two arms, and about three hours.

"Now it's only one arm, and it's about an hour and a half, so it's a lot better," said Johnson, who says it's still hard to sit still for that long, especially because she's seen all of the blood center's movies by now.

Johnson, who gave her niece a kidney 11 years ago, has never needed a blood donation herself, and said that she likes to be able to help others.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)