The second annual Michael Wayne Polston Blood Drive will be held today from 2 to 6 p.m. at East Laurinburg Church of God on E. Church Street.

Brenda Polston, Michael Polston's mother, said the event is dedicated to the memory of the man who died at the age of 35 from a heart attack in 2009.

Polston said blood donations had kept her son alive.

He had a history of medical ailments, being diagnosed with diabetes in 1986. He had a kidney transplant in 2006 after both of his kidneys failed, but continued to be in poor health.

In December of 2008, he started hemorrhaging and had to be transferred to Charlotte after a local doctor clamped off the bleeding to buy him some extra time. At the medical center in Charlotte, he was given 22 pints of blood to keep him from bleeding to death, she said. A doctor told her that this was the most blood she'd seen anyone receive who survived from the amount of bleeding.

After Michael Polston died, the church decided to honor him with their blood drive as blood donations had been so important in his life.

Polston said 40 people gave blood last year, a record for her church. She hopes more people give this year.

She issued a special challenge to bikers as Michael Polston's first love was his Harley Davidson motorcycle.