Blood donor legend: Koro Amai has donated blood 300 times and wants more Māori to roll up their sleeves

Koro Amai is one of New Zealand’s most frequent blood donors - and he’s encouraging more Māori to become blood donors.

Amai (Rongomawahine, Rakaipaaka, Ngāti te Ipu, Tuhoe) has donated blood more than 300 times over 30 years. His blood donor journey began because of his wife Ange, who is dependent on blood transfusions.

“Seven children is what we have [my wife] Ange and I. Being O- and I’m a B+ means two blood groups that actually fight against each other.

“What actually needs to happen is that Ange has to have blood transfusions each time [she gave birth]. Seven times.”

As a frequent donor, Amai enjoys meeting other donors but mostly giving back to the community.

“It’s about others as well. I can give back a little bit. That’s why I do it, and plus I do enjoy it. I’ve been doing it for a long time. You meet other people, even a lot of people that I don’t know, but you’ve got to know if you’ve been a donor,” Amai said.

“The most important out of all of them, is that why wouldn’t I do it? I can do it, I’m able to do it and fit and healthy, and probably the most important thing for me is I would hate to think that someone’s life, somebody’s child, daughter, son, or moko would be in jeopardy if they didn’t have access to other whole blood.”

Under-representation in donation

He said Māori are under-represented when it comes to donating, and over-represented when it comes to receiving blood.

Koro Amai is a Māori in shiny red armour to the New Zealand Blood Service.

“I’m passionate about the quality of life in all groups but obviously being Māori, especially for Māori in New Zealand Aotearoa. There’s only 4 per cent that are active donors. So you’re looking at about 120,000 and of that 120,000 there’s only about 10 per cent of that figure that are actually Māori.

He said when it comes to receiving the blood plasma the size is actually a lot larger.