OKEECHOBEE — An Okeechobee native has the distinction of being one of the few in the 50 gallon or more club.

Frank Coker has donated 51 gallons of blood to One Blood. Coker said he works for Okeechobee County, and in 2008, the assistant administrator talked to him about donating whole blood.

“I started donating off and on, and it became a little competition between us,” said Coker. “We did that I think until about 2015.” He did not donate every time he was eligible. He donated when he thought about it. “You know, when the bus was at the sheriff's department or in front of Walmart, things such as that.” He explained it was not a dedicated plan. It was more hit or miss.

When his wife had neck surgery, Coker visited the blood bank in Stuart. The woman taking care of him asked if he had ever donated platelets. She told him his iron count was high, and it would benefit him and the people who receive the platelets if he did. “I said OK. I will do that.” He did it one time but went back to giving whole blood. “It takes about three hours to donate platelets,” he explained, “But, it counts as three donations.”

However, he lost his son Michael in a motorcycle accident in 2015, and a few months later, he began thinking about making a difference for someone else. “Donating blood is my way of helping other people through sickness or accidents or whatever. I don’t want my son to be forgotten,” he said. “It’s a way to tell my son’s story over and over again. It’s an awesome feeling.”

Beginning sometime in the middle of 2015, Coker became serious about his donations. “I’ve been donating platelets as often as I can, and with platelets, that’s every two weeks, up to 24 times a year.” He added that if your platelets are too low, they will cut you off until it goes back up. That has happened to Coker, but he had already hit 24 donations anyway.

Coker does not just donate in Okeechobee; he also donates in surrounding areas throughout Florida.

He hit 51 gallons in October and is already at 51.3. One of his favorite things about donating to One Blood is knowing where his donations are going. Coker has a map that he uses to track his donations. He puts a pin in wherever his blood has gone. “I just thought it would be really cool to print out a map,” he said. His goal now is 100 gallons.

“I was not able to help my son, but I can help someone else.”