Jimmy Fry started donating blood as a Mason in 1977
By: Mae Rhine
LAMBERTVILLE – When Jimmy Fry was first asked by a fellow Mason Lodge member in 1977 to donate blood, he said "For what? I never gave before."
When his lodge buddy explained anyone who needs it would benefit, Mr. Fry decided to give it a try.
Now he’s "five pints short of six gallons" in total donations to the Community Blood Council of New Jersey, based in Ewing.
He donates blood every 56 days, the minimum amount of time allowed between donations of whole blood. He has B negative, the second rarest type; AB negative is the most rare.
"If I’m a day late, they call me," he says.
He doesn’t give platelet donations – blood is composed of white and red blood cells, platelets and plasma – because whole blood donations only take about four minutes.
"Everyone’s in a hurry these days," he says.
Giving platelets involves separating the blood and returning red blood cells to the donor, a process that takes about an hour and a half. Those may be donated every two weeks.
Mr. Fry, 58, is a lifelong resident of the city – "I get homesick if I go to Stockton," he quips. He is a janitor at the West Amwell Township Elementary School, a job he’s held for 15 years. Before that he worked for Mercer County Vocational Technical School for three years.
He’s probably better known for his Reel to Real Band in which his son, Jimmy Fry Jr., is lead guitarist and lead vocalist.
Although his son is "a big strapping guy" and a criminal investigator with the New Jersey state attorney general’s office, he doesn’t donate blood like his father.
"He’s afraid to death to give blood," his father says with a chuckle. "He’s scared of needles."
His reasons for giving blood are as straightforward as the man himself.
"You’re just helping people, all those trauma cases." he says. "That’s why I give. I figure, hey, it doesn’t hurt you."