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A record number of people showed up in the hours and days following Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando to donate blood. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, blood donation officials call the response unprecedented.

This was the scene inside a OneBlood donation center just blocks from the Pulse nightclub crime scene Sunday morning. People began lining up long before is was scheduled to open.

And In Tallahassee and elsewhere.

“they turned us away because they had so many people” a couple told us in the parking lot on Sunday afternoon.

Since Sunday, OneBlood’s Pat Michaels says more than 21 thousand people showed up to donate,

“ I can tell you this one was beyond anything I could ever imagine” he says.

OneBlood says they saw a 40 percent increase in first time donors.

“First time donor for platelets, yeah” says donor Annie Wood.

By Friday, the rush was over. Annie Wood told us she was here because it was important.

“I just think anything that you can do in that arena is important. Organ donating, blood donating.”

Regular donor Jesse Wheelas told us he’s always been healthy.

“It’s just one way to give back, I guess” says the fingerprint analyst.

There’s also been a 72% increase in O negative donors. That’s important because O negative can be given to just about anyone in a trauma situation.

“Thank you for coming” said center director Mike Stiles as he greeted Kay Hobbs. Hobbs has been a regular donor for a couple of years.

“I come every two weeks and I donate platelets” she says.

“why do you do that?”

“I have good blood and I feel like I should share it.”

Red blood cells have a shelf life of about 40 days. Platelets just five days, to the agency says it is always in need .

And it wasn’t just Floridians who turned out to donate. Bloodline got calls from Boston, Kansas and elsewhere.