(CNN) -- It takes seven minutes to execute a death row inmate, according to the state of Texas. Mike Graczyk poses outside the Texas death chamber prior to an execution in January. At that rate, Mike Graczyk has spent about 40 hours of his life watching men -- and a few women -- die. Graczyk, a correspondent for The Associated Press, is believed to hold a macabre record. He's almost certainly watched more executions than anyone else in the United States. "I can't possibly imagine there's been someone present at more than Mike," said Michelle Lyons, the spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which uses lethal injection at its execution chamber in Huntsville.
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Texas reporter has covered executions in Texas since the early 1980s
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Graczyk stopped counting, didn't want "notches on my gun belt"
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Inmates waiting to die have greeted him by name, called to check up on him
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He says he doesn't worry about the mental toll and has declined counseling
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