Saving lives is part of Joe’s routine. He schedules his platelet donations out months in advance, ensuring he in the OneBlood donor chair every two weeks.

“It’s a great way to give back,” he said. “We’re all in this together.”

Joe’s passion for platelet donation began nearly a decade ago, when he saw the need for transfusions up close and personal.

“I came back from Afghanistan after being a food service contractor in 2016, and I was trying to go back to Afghanistan, and they discovered cancer during the physical that I needed to deploy,” he said.

Joe underwent 7 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. Before he could receive each treatment, doctors checked his platelet count to ensure his body was healthy enough to endure the treatment.

“When I was being treated, I was always the healthiest guy in the room. In my last week of chemo, my platelet count actually didn’t qualify,” he said. “But they let me go through because it was my last one. I realized that if my count was too low, they wouldn’t let me get the chemo.”

Though his own recovery was quick, Joe recognized that many cancer patients were not as fortunate, and would require platelet transfusions to be healthy enough to continue their own treatment.

Knowing that he is giving others a second chance at life is what keeps Joe coming back, time and time again.

“I’m helping out a stranger that I’ll never meet, but I can feel good about that, and that person might have a nice, productive life because of what I’m sharing,” Joe said. “I’ve met some great people that work with OneBlood, so it’s always a pleasure to come back.”