Fulton couple reaches 200 blood donations

August 11, 2011 at 8:38 a.m. | Updated August 11, 2011 at 8:38 a.m.

Edith and Gene Craighead, of Fulton, give blood Wednesday at an American Red Cross blood drive held at Southside Baptist Church. Together the couple has given blood 200 times.
Edith and Gene Craighead, of Fulton, give blood Wednesday at an American Red Cross blood drive held at Southside Baptist Church. Together the couple has given blood 200 times.

"I hope I can give today," Edith Craighead says as she awaits her turn into the area where American Red Cross personnel question potential donors.

Edith, 82, and her husband, Gene Craighead, 85, came to Southside Baptist Church Wednesday - where they have been members since 1959 - to donate blood. Edith explains that many times she is turned down at the drives, because her hemoglobin level is too low. But not today. She sits down on one of the four Red Cross chairs in the church's basement and diligently squeezes the ball in her right hand, like she is told, while blood flows through a line to collect in a bag beside her.

Since both the Craigheads were able to donate on Wednesday, it marked the Fulton couple's 200th time of giving blood. Edith has given 70 times and Gene 130.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.