TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Red-blooded life saver

Photo from Florida Blood Services

Gene Hink has been inducted into the Fenwal Blood Technologies' Donation Hall of Fame. He has given 75 gallons in blood over his lifetime.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2009

BRANDON - It would be tough to tally up the hours Gene Hink has devoted to helping local nonprofit agencies and people in need. But Florida Blood Services has kept a careful count of the blood the Brandon man has donated over the years. To commemorate a lifetime donation total of 75 gallons - that's 600 pints - Hink was inducted into the Fenwal Blood Technologies' Donation Hall of Fame on Oct. 11 at the Kennedy Donation Center in Tampa.

Karen Bergeron, a donor specialist at the center where Hink donates regularly, said he is a champion. "He has potentially saved hundreds if not thousands of patient lives," Bergeron said.

Hink, a retired Navy diver and maintenance engineer for ExxonMobil Corp., began donating blood in 1968, in honor of a co-worker's son who was diagnosed with leukemia.

He has served on the board for the Emergency Care Health Organization and New Horizons Group Homes in Brandon. He also does repair jobs for shut-ins and others who need help, and pitches in at the Brandon Outreach Clinic, a facility that provides medical services to people in need.

Laura Frazier

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT