Texas ‘All Star’ Blood Donor Gives 120 Gallons of Platelets over 37 Years

Marcos Perez has paid it forward for thousands of lives by donating his platelets every two weeks for 37 years.

According to the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, he has helped more than 3,000 people with his donations.

“Mr. Perez’s story is very moving and emotional because you know why he does it — it saved his life, ” said Roger Ruiz, corporate communications specialist for nonprofit BioBridge Global.

Perez was inspired to devote himself to this extraordinary act of kindness since he needed a blood transfusion to save his life when he was born prematurely.

“If someone was there for me, why can’t I be there for someone else?” Perez told Fox News.

His someone was his dad’s coworker, Tony Aguilar, back in the 1960s when people could not rely on blood banks for transfusions.

“My dad had to go around and ask his family members, my aunts and uncles, cousins, friends, to go donate blood, and only one man stepped up to the plate,” Perez said.

Since then, Perez has donated 962 times, and each time, his platelets help about three people.

Platelet donors have to wait a week in between each donation, but they can donate up to 24 times in a given year.

The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center plans to honor Perez on Thursday along with two others for meeting this 100-plus gallon milestone.