CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Donating blood has been a family tradition for Raymond Swadley, starting with his mother and father, and now his grandson.
Swadley, who is now 88 years old, first gave blood to the American Red Cross at the age of 2 in 1958. Over the years, he has given a total of 44 gallons to help who knows how many people.
Both of his parents were multi-gallon donors. “It was part of their lives. That was two generations, my mother and father and myself. When Max expressed a desire to give blood, it just really made me feel proud that it would be carried on in our family,” Swadley told Clarksville Now.
On March 16, Swadley stood beside his grandson, 16-year-old Max Swadley, as he made his first blood donation at the Red Cross office on Madison Street…