100 Pints: Mocksville man’s first blood donation was made to get out of work

Published 1:58 pm Tuesday, July 25, 2023

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By Mike Barnhardt

Enterprise Record

Henry Bruce remembers that day in the U.S. Army many years ago.

“A guy came around with a clipboard. He was looking for volunteers, and said you would get the rest of the day off.”

Bruce didn’t even have to know the cause. His hand went immediately in the air to volunteer.

It was his first time donating blood.

Last week, the Mocksville man, 83,  donated his 100th pint of life-saving blood.

“It just seems like the right thing to do,” he said. “It doesn’t take long and you always feel good afterward. I donate whenever I’m able and thinking about it.”

It likely won’t be his last time to donate, either. He’s in good health, and his doctor, Dr. Melanie Seagle, smiled and gave him permission to donate blood until hs is 100.

Bruce and his wife of 62 years, Joyce, moved to Mocksville some 17 years ago from Florida, and haven’t regretted it. “We like it here,” she said.

Their family – four sons, 15 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren – are scattered across the country.