More than 300,000 Canadians donate blood every year, according to Canadian Blood Services, but few have donated as much as Tamara Charman.

The Abbotsford resident recently donated blood for the 150th time, which she says has been a 46-year journey that she is proud to have embarked on.

The start of this journey was in 1978 when the 17-year-old Charman took advantage of the recent Canadian Red Cross rule change that allowed females to donate blood at the age of 17 when accompanied by a letter of permission from their parents.

Her inspiration for doing this comes from her uncle, who donated more than 100 times, according to Charman.

In addition to her uncle, it's also been the thought of how many people her blood can save that's kept her pursuing this goal even after all these years.

As someone with O-negative blood, Charman is what's known as a universal donor, meaning that her blood is compatible with anybody.

But getting to 150 donations hasn't always been a walk in the park, she explained. Various illnesses, surgeries, childbirth, and other life events have forced her to take temporary breaks in her donations. However, no matter what life threw at her, she always returned to that chair to give another bag of blood to those in need.

"To be honest, the needle hurts a little, but not a lot, and it's so little effort on my part that could possibly lead to saving someone's life," said Charman.

As she's gotten older, a lot has changed about the donation process, but one thing that hasn't changed is her passion for giving back.

"I've learned a lot over five decades about what my physical limits are," said Charman. "For instance, when I was in my 20s, I ran up a flight of stairs right after a donation and nearly passed out. As I get older, the donation process does wear me out more than it used to, but I recover very quickly."

"I've seen so many changes and innovations to the blood donation process over the years, and it's always interesting to see what new thing they've come up with."

Few people ever reach 150 blood donations, but Charman isn't satisfied quite yet.

"It will take me at least another 12 years to reach 200 donations," she said. "I'd like to reach that milestone."

She also hopes that her story might inspire more people to donate as well, with Canadian Blood Services warning that 100,000 new blood donors are needed every year in order to keep up with the demand and keep saving lives.