By Tim Wenzl

Southwest Kansas Register

Father John Strasser, former pastor at Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish, became a member of the Red Cross Century Club when he donated his 100th unit of blood in Dodge City May 23.

Joan Hendrickson, chapter manager of the American Red Cross, presented Father Strasser with his Century Club certificate during the blood drive at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Dodge City. She noted that 100 units is more than 12 gallons of blood. The average adult body contains 10 to 12 pints of blood.

Father Strasser began donating blood when he was in his early 20s while attending St. Thomas Seminary in Denver.

"At the time, my mother was a nurse at St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City," he said. "Several times I heard her mention that following an accident, emergency surgery was delayed due to a shortage of blood. The hospital had to wait for blood to be flown into the local airport and then be transported by highway patrol to the hospital before surgery could begin. I thought to myself, ‘I can do something about that,’ and I began to donate blood."

Father Strasser has been a regular donor since his first donation. He gives blood two or three times a year, sometimes four. Donors can donate blood every 56 days.

"The experts say that regular donation of blood stimulates your own blood production similar to the way that regular exercise is good for your entire body," Father Strasser stated. According to the American Red Cross, a person’s body replaces the donated blood volume within a few hours. It takes several weeks to replace the donated red blood cells.

There was one time when Father Strasser was called in to donate. "I was home from the seminary for summer vacation and the hospital called at 2 a.m. needing blood for an emergency," he recalled. "The hospital was waiting for me when I got there and I quickly gave my pint of blood because I wanted to get back home and get back to sleep. When I stood up from the cot, the room spun around a couple of times so I sat down. The nurse noticed what had happened and suggested that I just spend the rest of the night there. For the next 3 to 4 hours, I slept peacefully on the hospital cot before going home in time for breakfast."

There was another incident during a blood donation that gave Father Strasser pause for thought and added incentive. "Once when I visited the bloodmobile, the Red Cross attendant brought the nurse a container for the blood I was about to give that was composed of three small bags instead of the usual one pint bag. I asked, ‘Why the three smaller bags?’ The nurse said that the smaller bags were used for heart surgery for newborn infants."

Throughout his life, Father Strasser has encouraged others to donate blood. "A motto of the Red Cross blood services is ‘Blood is life. Pass it on,’ he said. "Only five percent of the people who are able to give blood do so. There is a constant need and I can do something about that – pretty much the reason why I donated blood the first time."

Father Strasser is currently the pastor of the Catholic Community of Barber County. He serves the parishioners of three parishes: Holy Rosary, Medicine Lodge; St. Boniface, Sharon, and St. John, Kiowa.