Francisco del Amo Zarzo, a Spanish citizen who has lived in Burgos for decades, made his 500th blood donation this Tuesday, establishing a record not held by any other person in Spain or Europe.
“For little more than the bite of a mosquito I helped a family, if not save, then improve the health of their patient. I think it is more than enough reason to encourage you to donate blood,” he explained to journalists minutes before proceeding to donate at the point set up at the Divino Valles Hospital in Burgos capital.
Francisco del Amo, who is also president of the Brotherhood of Blood Donors of Burgos and responsible for the federation of Castilla y León, has been donating both blood, platelets and plasma for 47 years, although in the last ten he has only been able to donate platelets and plasma, upon medical recommendation.
It all started in 1977 when his mother, a regular donor, “took him by the ear” to donate with her in Socuéllamos (Ciudad Real), his hometown, and there he realized that “it wasn't that big of a deal.” ”, and continued to donate year after year.
Since then, Del Amo has complied with the maximum allowed: four annual donations for men (three for women) and periodic donations of plasma or platelets (every 15 days), hence it has managed to reach that figure of 500, which only He shares with a man from Texas (United States), although as Del Amo explained "there you pay to donate."
And in Spain, donation is an altruistic, supportive act, for which nothing is paid, a fact that, as president of the Brotherhood, Del Amo has assured that "they will continue fighting so that in Spain they do not pay for donations." because it seems logical to us.”
It is precisely this spirit of solidarity that moves this adopted Burgos native, who has assured that donating gives him “great satisfaction”, because although “no one gets used to the puncture”, he values the help he can provide to hospitalized people, who require of a surgical intervention, those who have suffered an accident or cancer patients, for example.
“There are people who have confessed to me that with a blood transfusion they notice how their body changes, from looking exhausted to seeing that they are recovering,” he explained. So he is willing to continue donating as long as he has the health to do so, because that is his other joy, that he has the strength and good health to continue.
Francisco del Amo recalled that he is one of the thousands of donors that the province of Burgos has, which closed 2023 with record data, as 21,473 donations were reached, 790 more than the previous year, which represents a rate of 60.8 donations per 1,000 inhabitants, the best figure in the entire country.
“I think it makes us feel very proud,” he stated, while insisting on the need to continue raising awareness among the population to increase the number of new donors, which are usually around 1,500 per year, although not all are loyal.
Del Amo has insisted that the university is a “fishing ground”, an ideal place for raising awareness because, through annual donation campaigns, donors join who, whether from Burgos or outside the province, can end up increasing the lists of usual donors, and thus guaranteeing an essential generational change so that there continue to be blood reserves in Castilla y León.
