Catholic grandmother, 95, recognized as Canada's oldest blood donor

VANCOUVER—“There is power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the lamb!”

Singing these words, 95-year-old Beatrice Janyk settled into a chair at a Canadian Blood Services clinic in Vancouver and gave blood as the country’s oldest-ever blood donor April 18.

“Granny Bea,” as she is known, has been donating blood in Canada and the United States for more than 70 years. In Bellingham, she has been recognized for donating 20 gallons of blood (the equivalent of 170 Canadian donations) and in Vancouver she has donated 30 times just since 2005.

“When I’m finished, I think: ‘Hey, I’ve saved somebody’s life. Why not?’”

Her get-up-and-go attitude had family, friends, and media crews laughing as she received a certificate recognizing her as Canada’s oldest blood donor at a clinic on Oak Street April 18.

Nearly 96 years old and still healthy, Granny Bea said her secret is taking daily vitamins, going to sleep early, and having a positive attitude. She spends most of her time making three to four rosaries a day and donating them to the Sisters of the Child Jesus.

“I don’t need anything else. I’ve been grateful to give, and I hope others will start to give, too,” she told the small crowd. “I hope I’ve saved a baby because I take no medication but seven vitamins every night.”

Granny Bea started donating blood in the late 1940s, after a health scare that left her husband fighting for his life.

“He was in a sawmill accident in Honeymoon Bay,” a small town on Vancouver Island, where they lived, she said. Bill Janyk, then only 26 years old, had a shattered shoulder and needed a blood transfusion during surgery to put it back together.

The blood had been tainted. “He almost died from the yellow jaundice he got!”

The incident put the need for blood transfusions at the forefront of her mind, and she started donating blood soon afterward.

Granny Bea, who later moved to Vancouver with her husband and their three sons, has been donating almost regularly since. At age 71, the determined grandmother learned she would have to stop because of existing age restrictions. She dodged them by travelling south of the border and continuing to donate.

“In order to beat the system, she would to go the U.S. and give at the clinic in Bellingham,” laughed her youngest son, Barry Janyk. “She’s probably got some of the best blood of any Canadian around, so why not share it? That’s her attitude.”

The age restrictions were lifted in 2004, one year before Bill died.

Barry said the family got wind of the fact that Granny Bea might be Canada’s oldest blood donor when they received a phone call from CBS.

“They said, ‘We have your mother down as being born in 1922. That can’t be right, can it?’ I said, ‘That’s right!’” Soon, they were contacting Guinness World Records to find out if it was true.

While they could never work out if Granny Bea is the world’s oldest blood donor, she certainly is Canada’s.

“We’re all very lucky to have you,” Marcelo Dominguez told her on behalf of CBS, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. “Your outstanding dedication to patients in need has helped save lives.”

Longtime family friend Father Joseph Swinkels also praised Granny Bea’s efforts. He told The B.C. Catholic that giving blood is a selfless sacrifice, as was Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

But it didn’t look like sacrifice as Granny Bea sat in the donor’s chair, smiling and singing a hymn. “I’m so grateful to give,” she told the crowd of family, media, and curious onlookers.

Will she keep on giving? “You betcha, until I’m 100!”