DAYTON, Ohio – Life has many detours, especially in the time of COVID-19.  As a travel coach driver and a retirement community worker, Dayton donor Betty Rabold knows about changing course. But as she navigated the pandemic, she stayed true to her monthly platelet donations. On Feb. 25 she rolled past a rare milestone, her 400^th lifetime donation.

Betty is just the fifth female CBC donor to top 400 donations and she ranks 23^rd overall among all CBC donors.  She is a type O-negative “universal donor” and has been donating since 1975. She made 48 whole blood donations – the equivalent of six gallons – before becoming a platelet donor in 1991.

She’s humble about her accomplishment and took the tribute in stride. “With four kids, you never know if you’re going to make those goals,” she said. “As a bus driver, it’s like ‘how many straight days without an accident!”

Despite the challenges of the pandemic she made 14 platelet donations in 2020.  “I didn’t have a reason to stop,” she said.

She tested positive for COVID-19 in December and after a quick recovery, began donating COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma. She made two CCP donations in January and reached her 400^th donation milestone with a platelet donation.

 “It felt like a cold and I had no idea until I was tested,” she said.  She’s been an essential worker during the pandemic, screening employees and service workers at the retirement community. “It’s just me and my dog at my house!” she said.

Betty was a school bus driver for the Jefferson Township school district for 25 years. Before the pandemic she drove a shuttle bus for the retirement community while also driving for a charter coach company. She wasn’t behind the wheel very often in 2020 when charter trips were cancelled, but travel is gradually resuming.

“I do the shuttle for University of Dayton and athletic trips,” she said. “I took the UD men’s soccer team up to Akron and it was freezing!” she said. “I said, ‘Do you play inside?’ and they said, ‘No! Soccer’s an outdoor sport!’”

Her 300th lifetime donation in 2017 was bittersweet because it came less than a year after the sudden death of her husband Karl.  She cherishes her kids and grandkids and is proud that her daughter Adrian is a universal donor with 45 lifetime donations.

“My daughter does double red cell donations,” Betty said, explaining that Adrian prefers the longer deferral time between donations because, “She doesn’t like getting stuck!”