It was just a regular day for Martha “Marty” Shuh. Another day at Donor Pavilion to donate blood.
Marty is a regular, and staff are familiar with her infectious, sunny energy and laughter. But this time was a little different, a very special donation, as Marty was the first female to make it into our exclusive 100-gallon donor club.
She is South Texas Blood & Tissue’s official Wonder Woman! Her donation has heled save more than 2400 people.
“At church, they were talking about how large the crowds would be at a big mass, and it would only be about 700 or so. I think about how big that crowd is and then this would be, you know, three times that,” Marty said. “It’s hard to hard to wrap my head around it, just so grateful that I’m able to.”
Staff cheered her on and presented a plaque to commemorate the momentous occasion.
A former flame is what ignited Marty’s donation journey.
“I didn’t have a reason to donate. I might have donated once or twice at work,” Marty said. “But then I was dating an FBI agent, and he had done undercover work in New Jersey … He said immediately the minute we started dating: ‘Do you donate? Everybody needs to. People in law enforcement, first responders. Everybody needs blood products, because we’re out there doing hard things that are scary and where we could be hurt.’
“So, I started donating and just never stopped,” Marty said.
She has followed South Texas Blood & Tissue throughout multiple moves and remembers donating platelets and blood at former centers. She jokes, laughing about how the donation process has changed so much.
“Back then, were just kind of trapped with both arms,” she said. “You were just kind of stuck there for however long it took. It was a little bit of a sacrifice in terms of just physical comfort and mental stimulation. Now you can have more freedom to play with your phone, or watch movies, and with only one arm!
“You get our own TV!”
Marty was born and raised in San Antonio and comes from an altruistic family. She has two sisters, one younger and one older, who are also regular blood donors as well. She accredits their generosity to her mother.
“Dad died when we were young,” Marty said. “Mom raised us right.”
One of the reasons Marty keeps coming back is because of the dedication of the staff.
“You get that immediate gratification from the employees, not from the patients,” Marty said. “So, the patients need blood and I’m happy to come and do it. But it’s the folks here. They’re always so friendly, and grateful, and we’re excited to see each other. I didn’t get that from people I worked 30 years with.”
Marty is ambitious, and her next goal is to donate 150 gallons.
“I should have another good 15 years, at least, in me,” she said. “We should be able to hit 150 without a problem.”
As she lays on her donor bed, she adds another goal to that: she wants to be the oldest donor at South Texas Blood & Tissue. Inspired by James Harrison, the Australian “Man with the Golden Arm,” she would like to exceed his amount of donations.
“He had a special blood type or a special blood type that saved over 2 million babies,” she said. “He had to stop donating when he reached 81 ‘because of Australian restrictions He wanted someone to exceed his lifetime donation record, which was over 1100 donations,
“We don’t have an age limit here. So my new goal is at my funeral, I want somebody to say ‘Marty was just donating blood last month or last week’ I’d love to be donating with however many years that God gives me, that’s what. That’s what I’m hoping”
Inspired? Schedule your blood donation.
