A lifetime of giving: The remarkable journey of Volodymyr Nikolaiev, Ukraine's record-breaking donor

"I like to give gifts without expecting thanks"

We meet Volodymyr near his home. The elderly man is holding the latest newspapers as he actively follows the news. The day before my visit, there was another attack on Dnipro. "They whack almost every day," he says. At the same time, his face is calm.

The donor lives in a spacious three-room apartment. The first thing that catches my eye is a mirrored wall and paintings. I stare at them for a moment.

"These paintings were given to me," says the donor. "Once, according to my own tradition, I used to leave packages of sweets for our watchman on New Year's Eve and ask him to distribute them to the children. I insisted that they not say who it was from. However, one day the neighborhood kids figured it out. They came and brought me a drawing. I was pleased, although I like to give gifts without expecting thanks, remaining incognito."

Next, Volodymyr invites into his office for a conversation. It's a small room completely filled with books. You can't see the walls behind them.

Among them, he shows us the most precious and oldest family heirloom—his grandfather's passport, issued in the Tsarist era. He hopes that his grandchildren will keep it.

Blood for women in labor

Volodymyr was born in the year of the declaration of victory, 1945. His mother survived the occupation, working all the time at a bread factory, kneading dough. She used to send loaves to the front. His father escaped from captivity several times. Volodymyr has captured these memories for decades. He still remembers the first time he went to school.

"There was a decent school opposite my house, but it was for girls, and a little further away there was a male school, but it was overcrowded. On the next street there was a junior high school, but it was dilapidated. I went there and studied the first two grades in the corridor. Then we were transferred to another school."

The boy was good at drawing. In 1963, he graduated from the Dnipro Energy Construction College with a degree in architectural engineering, and then entered Dnipro University, Faculty of Physics and Technology. However, he enrolled as a part-time student so that he could work during the day.

He remembers one day when a professor told him that they were setting up a new laboratory and looking for specialists. Volodymyr went there and stayed for 25 years.

When he talks about drones, I think of Mavics and Shaheds. But Volodymyr was dealing with this more than 30 years ago, so he wasn't talking about current technology.

To get the metals he needed for his work, Volodymyr had to travel across the Union. Everything was classified as secret. What he didn't understand the most was the excessive bureaucracy.

"I had to travel a lot to Vilnius, Riga, and almost all over Russia. In our laboratory, the sales department existed only in theory. If I needed something for my research, I had to look for it myself.

Let me give you an example: the Imash device should have a vacuum chamber, and I needed to see under a microscope what was happening in the metal when it was heated. To get the films, I wrote letters to the ministry, then through foundations in Moscow. No one encouraged me, on the contrary, they put a spoke in my wheel."

Next to the laboratory where Volodymyr worked, there was a hospital and a maternity ward.

"One day, the secretary of the Komsomol organization came to our department and asked who could donate blood for women in labor. It was around 1965. We all went to donate blood that day. Firstly, to help young mothers, and secondly, so we could go outside the closed enterprise during working hours. It was a rare thing back then."

"Infected with blood donation"

Volodymyr had little interest in medicine, but since 1976 he has been actively donating blood. His blood type is A positive. He says he has just returned to Dnipro after a long business trip and his legs carried him to the blood transfusion station. Volodymyr shows me his notebook, in which all donations are marked.

"I somehow got infected with blood donation. I donated blood for the second time while serving in the army, then again and again... I always felt good, never lost consciousness. I followed an important rule: I did not eat anything fatty the day before donating blood, and alcohol was out of the question.

If a person becomes a donor, they must think about those who will receive the blood or plasma. So, in order not to harm the patient, you need to stick to a healthy diet. If a person ate something fatty or drank alcohol before donating plasma, there will be no benefit from such donation, because such plasma immediately deteriorates."

It was in donation that Volodymyr found his meaning in life. His wife, with whom he has lived for 50 years, and his children also supported him. His daughter even drew an emblem for the Station, which can be seen right at the entrance. Once Volodymyr offered to become a donor to his cousin, who also agreed.

"Later, he became an honorary donor of Ukraine. Most importantly, he found a girlfriend at the blood transfusion station. I also managed to convince my colleague.

Before, I didn't know who was receiving my blood. Now there is a website called Donor.ua, and I can choose who I want to donate blood to. I print out my initials on paper and bring them with me to the station."

"I donated several barrels’ worth of blood"

Volodymyr shows how he filmed the entire blood donation procedure. The man with a briefcase approaches the registration desk, and then proceeds to the laboratory. He gives blood from his finger, then goes to the doctor, where he is interviewed, examined, and receives a permit for donation. Volodymyr goes through this procedure every time, regardless of the number of donations.

Over almost 48 years of donation, he has donated more than 650 liters of blood to save lives. And this year he set a record for Ukraine.

"As one doctor told me, I've already filled several hundred-liter barrels," Volodymyr says, smiling.

Volodymyr has many donor acquaintances in the United States, Israel, and European countries. He says they donate blood 1-2 times a year. He comes to the station every month.  

In 2006, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine for his donation. With a wrinkled forehead, Volodymyr assures me that feeling needed is more important to him than receiving awards.

"I don't like excessive attention. Now, during the war, many soldiers need blood. These bombardments are terrible. And I am glad that they still accept blood from me, which means that someone else needs me."

Finally, he shows me a statuette he was once given and asks me to pay attention to the inscription.

"Hands that help are holier than praying lips."

Author: Lesya Rodina