The Donor

THEBESTCHRISTMASPRESENTEVERRemembering to give blood this festive season

THEBESTCHRISTMASPRESENTEVERRemembering to give blood this festive season

NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL BLOOD SERVICE WINTER 2003 • FREE

Tissue typing: inside our laboratories

The DonorJOIN

THE BONE

MARROW REGISTER AT

www.blood.co.uk

Group effortSaying ‘Thank you’ to companies who support the NBS

Getting the right red stuffWhy we need more ethnic donors

Group effortSaying ‘Thank you’ to companies who support the NBS

Getting the right red stuffWhy we need more ethnic donors

Be a platelet donor call the Helpline 0845 7 711 7112 THE DONOR WINTER 2003 Find out where to give blood visit www.blood.co.uk

WELCOME & CONTENTS

GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?We welcome your personal stories, questions and comments.Write to Penny Richardson, Editor, The Donor, NationalBlood Service, West Derby Street, Liverpool, L7 8TW. Or contact us via our website, www.blood.co.uk where youcan also find out more about the National Blood Service. The cost of producing, printing and posting each copy of this mag-azine and the calendar is less than the price of a first class stamp.

NBS EDITORIAL TEAM: Louise Coxon, Ruth Greenaway, Vicky Smith, LyndsayStewart, Laura Summers. NBS Project Liaison Caroline Osborne.

The Donor is published by the National Blood Service. Reproduction inwhole or part is strictly forbidden without the prior permission of theNational Blood Service. Editorial consultancy, writing, subbing, art direction, design and productionKeith Hodgson and Hilary Joseph at Ant Creative (London). Reproduction – LDPG (London). Printed in the UK by Apple Web Offset plcon paper from sustainable forests.

3 NEWS FEATURE & NEWSLatest news and stories from around the country

6 SAVING LIVES? ALL IN A DAY’S WORKWe say ‘Thank you’ to organisations who help the NBS

7 IT’S IN THE BAG!Blood packs may look a bit odd, but all those different tubesand pouches are carefully designed to make blood donationeasier and safer

8 THOSE WERE THE DAYSA nostalgic look at the early days of the blood service

10 GETTING THE RIGHT RED STUFFWe visit a busy haematology ward where patients with blooddisorders receive life-saving treatment

11 THE APPLIANCE OF SCIENCETissue typing is a complex science that plays a key part inhelping to make bone marrow transplants work

12 OVER TO YOUCatch up with readers’ letters plus health Q&As

13 BRINGING THE NBS DIRECTLY TO YOUA day in the life of Graham Brown from our Direct Marketingdepartment

14 HEARTFELT THANKS FROM KATYDonated tissues save lives. We look at the efforts of Essex Policeto promote the message

15 CROSSWORDA new challenge for donors! Plus up-to-date NBS information

16 A TOAST TO BONE MARROW DONORSWe celebrate the generosity of those very special donors

In this winter issue

The right red stuff page 10 Science matters page 11

The National Blood Service is run by The National Blood Authoritywhich is a Special Health Authority within the National Health Service. NHS

and, despite her extremely shakystart in life, she pulled through.“Chloe was a fighter right from themoment she was born. We knewshe could get though this,” saysJohn.

Chloe is now firmly on the road torecovery. But John will never forgethow his little daughter was keptalive. “The blood transfusions Chloereceived shortly after birth were life-saving. It’s as simple as that.”

Good cause“I’ve been a blood donor for a fewyears now. I always did it because Ithought it was for a good cause – Inever dreamt my family would bethe good cause. Chloe is now ahealthy, happy child – thanks toblood donors. I hope that inaddition to thanking every blooddonor for the gift they gave to mydaughter, speaking about Chloe’sexperience will remind people ofthe importance of giving blood,especially at this time of year.”

The demand for platelets doesn’tlet up as Mark Jelly, national stockmanager, for the NBS explains.“Inevitably during each bank holidayperiod, the amount of blood collectedis much lower because of the reducednumber of working days.

“This doesn’t cause problems forred cell stock but platelets, whichhave a much shorter shelf-life at justfive days, can be severely affectedand it can be hard to keep upsupplies.”

Happy Christmas Loyal donors and careful bloodstock management by hospitalsand the NBS, meant that theproducts needed to save Chloe’slife were available last Christmas.

The family is now lookingforward to celebrating Christmastogether. But before they do Johnhas one last thing to cross off hislist: rolling up his sleeve to makeone more blood donation this year.

Please make a special effort todonate over the Christmas and NewYear period. Chloe O’Toole’s life-saving blood transfusions wouldnot have been possible if donors hadnot donated last Christmas. Soplease, this year make it your festive‘must-do’ or your New Year’sresolution to give blood.

THE DONOR WINTER 2003 3

Blood is always needed. One family’s experience made them realise how much werely on donors, whatever the time of year

For every family with youngchildren, Christmas is amagical time, full of excite-

ment and wonder. But for theO’Toole family from Barking, lastChristmas was very far from wonderful. Their newborn babyChloe was fighting for her life.

Last June Deborah O’Toole foundout she was pregnant. But a scan atseven months revealed the babyhad fluid around the heart. Sheneeded delivering early to have achance of survival.

Complications On 9th December 2002, ChloeO’Toole was delivered by caesareansection, nine weeks prematurely.Complications meant Chloe wasrushed into theatre shortly afterbirth and given a blood transfusionthrough her umbilical cord. Shedeveloped anaemia in the New Yearand needed another transfusion.

Chloe and mum Deborah spent

Christmas and New Year in hospital– nine and a half weeks altogether.When they finally came home,husband John was delighted. “Wewere so pleased to have themhome, we thought we might have a

Our campaign ‘A lot to say thankyou for…’ marches on. On page14 you can read about howmore than 250 patients havebenefited from donated tissues,thanks to the efforts of EssexPolice’s Family Liaison Officers.

We are delighted to recognise their special support. We’re always keen to recruit new bone marrow

donors. On the back page we tell the stories of twosuch donors, and report on a ceremony that celebrated the generosity of similar donors.

It’s not only individual donors we’ve been thanking. We couldn’t do without the support oforganisations that hold their own donor sessions.Read about our Supporter Loyalty Awards on page 6.

Our centre pages look back to the early days ofour service. The tea and biscuits haven’t changed –but a lot else has.

There’s a chance to flex those grey cells in thisissue. Solve our new crossword on page 15 and youcould scoop a prize.

You know the expression ‘shop early forChristmas’? Well, we’d like our donors to think aboutdonating early for Christmas, so we can maintainvital stocks over this holiday period. We know it’snot always easy at this time of year, but we can helpyou find a convenient time and place. Just call us onthe Donor Helpline.

Finally, a heart-warming story about how a littlegirl’s life was saved by vital transfusions. JohnO’Toole, whose daughter’s story is told on page 3,wants to thank all donors, and staff, everywhere.Together we really do save lives.

Please keep writing to us. Or now you can emailus at thedonor@nbs.nhs.uk

PENNY RICHARDSON – Editor

late New Year celebration!”But there was more anxiety

for John and Deborah. In April,Chloe developed a viral infection. Itaffected her breathing and she lostweight. But tiny Chloe was tough

Bouncing with health: Chloecuddles up to Billy Blood Drop

Platelets are the smallest type of cells that circulate in the blood.They help blood to clot and prevent bruising. They are often usedto treat patients having chemotherapy which often reduces theamount of platelets a body can produce. People with severe infections and those having major surgery may receive platelets, asthey use up blood and therefore platelets very rapidly.

Unlike red cells which last up to 35 days, platelets only last for fivedays. Platelets are collected when you make a normal whole blooddonation but you can donate just platelets if you attend one of ourpermanent donor centres. Ask for more details at your next blooddonor session or call the national helpline on 0845 7 711 711.

Platelets: an explanation

NEWS FEATURE

Give the gift of lifethis Christmas!

THE DONOR WINTER 2003 5

NEWS

9.30am every weekday morning on five4 THE DONOR WINTER 2003

NEWS

Watch ‘Lifeblood’ – The NBS on TV 1st to 5th

Manchester United andEngland defender, Wes

Brown, was on the attack fora change – supporting theNBS appeal for more peopleto join the British BoneMarrow Register (BBMR).

Wes (below right) is sup-

porting the NBS and theBBMR because this campaignis close to his heart.

His life-long friend StewartMcKay (above centre), hasleukaemia and Wes haspledged to support Stewartin any way he can. Wes andStewart grew up inLongsight, Manchester andhave been firm friends forover 20 years.

Wes was more than happyto pop in with Stewart to theNBS Manchester centre toput his weight behind thecampaign and meet some ofour life-saving donors andthe staff who work there.

They both wanted tothank blood and plateletdonors for all the blood andblood products Stewart hasreceived during his treat-ment.

Whilst they were there,they both met platelet donor

Rebecca Walsh ( below left).Wes also made an appeal,

on TV and in the press, ask-ing people to join the BBMRto help patients like Stewartwho may still be in need of abone marrow transplant.

The pair are backing theNBS 2003 ‘A lot to say thankyou for…’ campaign whichaims to say a well-deserved‘Thank you’ to donors as wellas encouraging more peopleto join the BBMR.

Wes said, "I’m here to sup-port this campaign because ifit was not for blood donorsthen Stewart might not behere today."

Martina Laird and SarahManners, stars of TV

drama ‘Casualty’, joined NBSstaff to say ‘Thank you’ to 30 loyal blood donatingorganisations at the BristolSupporter Loyalty Awards.

Representatives from com-panies such as Rolls Royce,Bowyers and Lloyds TSB werepresented with engravedplaques to commemoratetheir dedication to saving lives.

But the biggest ‘Thank

you’ of all came from localrecipients Andrew Foulgerand Duncan Sime. Andrew,8, was born with a congenitalheart defect and by his fifthbirthday had endured fouropen-heart operations. Hehad numerous blood transf-usions but has recovered andis now a healthy little boy.

Duncan, a fireman fromGloucester, survived two sep-arate but serious road trafficaccidents thanks to blood

donors, despite having life-threatening injuries.

He said, "It’s a great hon-our to meet some of thosedonors who helped to savemy life – twice."

Pictured above are SarahManners (far left) MartinaLaird (far right) presenting aplaque to staff from sausageproducers Bowyers, with helpfrom recipients AndrewFoulger (centre) and DuncanSime (third from left).

New look for the Donor Health CheckIn response to recent donor

comments, from nextspring we are introducing a‘new look’ Donor HealthCheck. This is the tick boxform that we ask you to fillin each time you come togive blood.

We have developed thenew look using feedbackfrom donors on the existingform. We also set up smallresearch groups and usedstaff feedback. The mostobvious change is that theform is no longer in blackand white, it is in colour.Redesigning the form hasbeen a real joint effortbetween donors and staffand we hope you will like it.

To make the change clearand simple, we aim to intro-duce this new form on thesame date across the wholecountry.

This means that if youcome to donate on or afterthe 5th April 2004, you willneed to have completed acoloured form.Unfortunately,

The ‘Topping Out’ cere-mony for the new NBS

Liverpool Centre at EstuaryCommerce Park in Speketook place in July.

Traditionally this wouldhave involved the final tilebeing placed on the roof.But, in these safety con-scious days Pat Walmsley(pictured above centre), oneof Liverpool’s longest serv-ing staff members, safelycut a ribbon at ground level,

with colleagues looking on. The new centre at Speke

will provide space for ser-vices already in Liverpool. Inaddition it will be home toTissue Services includingresearch and developmentand Tissue Engineering.

The National FrozenBlood Bank and a dedicatedcleanroom for the Auto-logous Artificial Tears projectwill also be part of the newdevelopment.

Built on the site of the oldLiverpool airport, an area ofurban renewal, the newcentre also has space forexpansion to allow furtherdevelopments in the future.

The Centre will openafter a further 12 months ofwork, involving fitting out,commissioning and testingof the specialist systems andtechnology.

Staff will move to theirnew centre in late 2004.

Freedom of informationand you the donorThe Freedom of Information (FOI) Act aims to give the pub-

lic the legal right to know information about organisations,how they function, operate and make decisions. Details aboutthe FOI and the information we will be publishing about theNBS can be found at www.blood.co.uk.

The DataProtection Actenables individualsto seek access toinformation heldabout themselves.

At the heart ofthe NBS’s work isthe promise wemake to donorsthat their personaldetails are keptsafely and onlyused in ways thatare essential to ouroperation.

Good news for travellersFor some time now, most

donors who have visitedan area where there is a riskof malaria have been askedto postpone donation for 12months following their returnto this country.

Many of you were unhap-py at missing the opportunityto donate. For some frequenttravellers this has meant analmost permanent stop totheir donations.

Why are we so concernedabout the malaria risk? Well,every year, several thousandcases are brought to the UKthrough travel to areas where

malaria is common. We havethe highest incidence of trav-el related malaria comparedwith other non-endemicareas such as NorthernEurope or North America.

The good news is that nowwe are able to test yourdonation for malarial anti-bodies six months after yourreturn.

This means that you don’thave to wait 12 months anymore. In fact if you returnedin June your six months is upduring December, just in timeto give that important sea-sonal donation.

Time to book anappointment

Lifeblood: The NBS gets on TV

Following several success-ful pilot tests during the

summer months, we havebegun a programme to rollout appointments at sessions– giving you more choice.

So, within the next fewmonths, you will have the flex-ibility to turn up as you havealways done or, if you wouldprefer, to make an appoint-ment for your next session.

We very much hope thatthe introduction of donationappointments will reducewaiting times for everyone,but there will always be bedsavailable at each session fordonors without appoint-ments. So the choice is yours.

For technical reasons, notall sessions in any one areawill begin offering appoint-ments at the same time.

More information aboutwhen your local session willbe offering appointments willbe sent to you with yourdonor invitation letter. So,please look out for it.

In the meantime, if youwould like more information,please talk to staff on the ses-sion next time you donate orcall our donor helpline on0845 7 711 711.

Whichever way youchoose – thank you for yourdonation. We look forwardto seeing you again soon.

Casualty stars at awards presentation

after that date, if you turn upwith an old black and whiteform you will be asked to fillin a new one.

The new Donor HealthCheck forms will be sent toyour home in the normalway, for all blood donor ses-sions that are due to takeplace on or after the launchdate. If you do not have anew form, don’t worry –there will be plenty availableat the session.

Topping out in Liverpool

There are a number of newfeatures to the form that wehope make it easier andquicker for you to complete.To help you to fill it in cor-rectly, you’ll also receive aleaflet. There will also beinformation available at ses-sions before the form is intro-duced and if you are stillunsure you can always ask amember of your local team toexplain it to you.

Wes Brown scores forBone Marrow appeal

Ever wondered what goes on behindthe scenes of a collection team?

Wanted to see first hand how blood isprocessed and tested back at the bloodcentre? Or be able to put just a fewfaces to the many patients who havereceived blood over the years?

Then the new Channel five TV series‘Lifeblood’ is one to watch. Presentedby Janet Ellis, (pictured above left), whowas a member of the Blue Peter team,‘Lifeblood’ takes you into the world ofblood as never before.

The programmes introduce us to the Hertfordshire collection team,

with behind the scenes footage in hos-pitals, blood centres and local blooddonor sessions.

We meet patients undergoing treat-ment, waiting for and receiving transfu-sions, as well as recipients who haveneeded blood and blood products. Theyall make us realise the vital role bloodand bone marrow donors play on theirroad to recovery.

We think you should be setting yourvideo for this one. So, catch ‘Lifeblood’,every week day on Channel five from1st December to 5th December, Mondayto Friday at 9.30am.

Donors will soon have the choice of either anappointment or just turning up to give blood

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6 THE DONOR WINTER 2003 You can host a company session call 0845 7 711 711

CAMPAIGN NEWS

Saving lives? It’s all in a day’s workAs part of our big ‘Thank

you’ campaign, we’vebeen travelling the coun-

try presenting Supporter LoyaltyAwards to companies. A specialplaque is presented to an organisa-tion that has shown outstandingsupport and commitment to theNBS by holding donor sessions forits employees for more than twoyears.

Some companies, such as RollsRoyce in Derby, have a longstandingrelationship with us. The enginecompany has been encouraging itsemployees to donate life-savingblood for a staggering 45 years.

Back in 1958, Rolls Royce’soriginal aim was to get 1,000 blooddonations from its first threesessions and its employees are stillrolling up their sleeves to supportpatients today.

Company commitmentBut what makes a company decideto hold its own blood donorsession? It may, sadly, follow atragedy. Staff from Grimsby basedcompanies Novartis and Syngentawanted to hold their own sessionafter the tragic death of a colleaguefollowing a car accident. During the fight to save his life he

received 70 units of blood. Regular sessions are also held in

many hospitals. The LiverpoolWomen’s Hospital providesobstetric and gynaecologicalservices, and cares for around 800

babies each year in its neonatal unit. Here, staff know very well how

vital blood is for some of theirpatients. Haemorrhaging after birthis still a hazard, but no longer fatalbecause hospitals have blood

It’s not only individual donors who deservepraise and special awards. Organisations whohold their own blood donor sessions also play an essential role in helping the NBS savelives. This year we decided to recognise theimportant work they do

Station Commander, GroupCaptain Ray Lock with FlightLieutenant John Makinson-Sanders and two Senior Aircrafts-women from RAF Lyneham, withtheir ‘Thank you’ plaque

Julia Demott and Richard Archer regularly donate at Rolls Royce

ever with army barracks, airforceand naval bases regularly holdingdonor sessions.

Royal Air Force Lyneham is hometo the RAF’s Tactical Air TransportForce and is one of the largest andbusiest operational stations.

Flight Lieutenant John Makinson-Sanders says, “The personnelstationed at RAF Lyneham areincredibly proud to be recognisedfor their contribution with thisSupporter Loyalty Award. “Theservicemen and women, MOD civilservants and contractors based atRAF Lyneham look forward to thecontinuation of their close links withthe NBS well into the future.”

A message of thanksWe want to let each companyknow that the Supporter LoyaltyAward it receives is an expression ofthanks to blood donors andemployers alike. This collectivededicated support is essential to blood collection and helpsthe service to save and improve the lives of thousands of patientsevery day around the country.

If you are interested in setting upa regular blood donor session inyour workplace just call ourhelpline on 0845 7 711 711.

stocks on hand to cope. Staff areencouraged to donate and manydo, despite being so busy.

Rosie Cooper, Chairman of thehospital trust, says “I'm very pleasedLiverpool Women's Hospital andthe NBS have such a goodrelationship. I'm very proud thatstaff here also take the time todonate blood. Without blooddonors, hospital staff would findtheir roles impossible.”

A national serviceThe armed forces’ support forpatients began back in the 1940s when men completing theirNational Service were activelyencouraged to donate blood.Today, the support is as strong as

THE DONOR WINTER 2003 7Save a life – fill a bag, for details call 0845 7 711 711

BLOOD COLLECTION

To do this, the blood pack is spunin a large centrifuge, similar to aspin dryer. This makes thecomponents settle at differentlevels in the pack, according to theirweight: red cells at the bottom,plasma at the top and platelets,with some white cells in the middle.The pack is then squeezed bymachine. Plasma is pushed up intoone bag (5) and red cells are pusheddown to the transfer bag at thebottom (6). The remaining plateletsand white cells stay behind in themain bag (4).

Any remaining white cells areremoved using the leucodepletionfilter (7). The now filtered red cellsare collected in the last bag (8).White cells are not needed andindeed can cause transfusionreactions in some recipients. Theirremoval is thought to decrease therisk of transmitting variantCreutzfeld-Jacob Disease (vCJD).

That bag we attach to your arm is no ordinaryone. It plays a key part in turning donated

blood into vital blood componentsWe’ve come a long way

from the simple glassbottle that we used to

collect blood in. Today’s bloodpacks are complex and ingenious-ly designed to make blood dona-tion and its processing simpler andsafer.

When you look at the donationpack attached to your arm, you’llsee it’s not simply one bag or pouchbut a complex, sterile system ofbags and tubes that are joinedtogether. This system allows the

donated blood to be processed andseparated into its components –red cells, platelets, white cells, andplasma – without the pack beingopened.

The blood packDonations are collected in a fourbag blood pack. Its first element isthe needle (1). Next is the pouch (2)in which the first few drops ofblood are collected. Collecting thefirst few drops stops any skinbacteria on the needle from gettinginto the pack.

Then comes the sample sidecoupler (3) that collects blood andtransfers it into three separatesampling tubes. These tubes havethe same unique barcode anddonation number as the blood packand travel with it to the bloodcentre. While the donation isprocessed, these blood samples aretested for blood group, HIV, hepatitisB, hepatitis C, syphilis and human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV).

After a donor session, the bloodpacks are taken back to the nearestblood centre for processing by NBSlaboratory staff.

SeparationThe blood in the main donationpack is now separated to producebags of red cells, platelets andplasma.

It’s in the bag!

● Evening donors may notice they have one less bag on their pack.This is because we often don’t collect platelets at this time.Platelets have to be processed on the day they are collected, andthere isn’t usually time for this with evening donations. Also, if youare on medication we may not collect platelets from you.● The NBS buys packs from three different manufacturers – andwe’re very selective! Thousands of bags are tested before a newcompany or pack design gets the green light. Using more than onesupplier means blood collection won’t be affected if a fault isdetected with a pack. The other two suppliers will meet demandand ensure a supply of blood in safe packs. ● One bag of red cells may also be split into four smaller, paediatricpacks which are used for transfusing babies.

Did you know?

The fourth element in the bloodpack is the main donation bag (4).This is where your blood donationis collected. This bag contains aharmless chemical to prevent theblood clotting.

Full up: processing starts withyour donation bag

How it all works: Donatedblood is collected in bag 4. The bag is then spun toseparate the blood into itsmain components. Onceseparated, the bag is compressed - plasmais pushed out of the top into bag 5, redcells go into transfer bag 6 and then on tobag 8, after having had the white cells removed by the leuco-depletion filter 7. Platelets and some white cells remain in bag 4.

4Maindonationbag

1Needle

2 Pouch

3 Sample side coupler

5Plasmabag

6Red celltransferbag

7Leucodepletion filter

8Filteredred cell

bag

The four main donation bags (4)with platelets left in, are then linkedtogether by a machine whichmakes a sterile ‘weld’ in the tubing,to produce one adult dose ofplatelets. A further filtering processremoves the remaining white cellsleaving just the platelets.

And that’s it. Assuming the testsare negative, the bloodcomponents are labelled andstored at the appropriatetemperature ready to be issued tolocal hospitals.IL

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NBS HISTORY

THE DONOR WINTER 2003 9Become a bone marrow donor call 0845 7 711 711

NBS HISTORY

8 THE DONOR WINTER 2003 You can find session details on BBC2 Ceefax page 465

different components in a self-contained, sterile environment,enabling not just one, but severalpatients to be helped by a singleblood donation.

RecruitmentIn 1946, an ‘Enrolment Squad’targeted potential donors – armedwith a loud-speaker van to enlistvolunteers. Peter Howell , archivistfor the British Blood TransfusionSociety, recalls how, in the 1950sand 1960s, there was a communityspirit amongst people who hadbeen brought together by the war,which was beneficial to bloodcollection.

Blood donor sessions were set upin factories, town halls and in rural

the afternoon off to do so! I alwaysfelt that it was better to give bloodthan receive it. It was a very basic setup back then, but you always gotyour tea and biscuits!”

A blood test was carried out bytaking a drop of blood from thedonor’s earlobe or from a finger,and the blood group test was done

at some sessions on a simple tile.Blood was collected in glass bottles,with connective rubber tubing,using needles that wereresharpened and sterilised aftereach donation, ready to be re-used.

Plastic blood packs, firstintroduced in the 1970s,revolutionised the way blood wascollected and used. The packs madeit easy to separate blood into its

Centres (RTCs) and two transfusioncentres in London. The RTCsoperated almost independently,collecting blood from donors in aparticular region and supplyinghospitals in the same area.

In 1949, the Bio ProductsLaboratory (BPL) opened. Its first

product was freeze-dried plasma,then later the many additionalproducts from blood components,such as coagulation factors,immunoglobins and humanalbumin solution.

Decades passed, the number ofblood donors grew, and in 1994,management of the RegionalTransfusion Centres was transferredfrom Regional Health Authorities toa national body.

The National Blood Service is anintegral part of the NHS and ismanaged with national objectives,standards and procedures. Todaythere are 15 blood centres acrossEngland and North Wales workingtogether to collect, process anddistribute blood to local hospitals.

Donor sessionsBut what was it like to be a donor inthose early days? Mr William Briggs,a retired donor from York,remembers, “I started giving bloodwhen I was doing my NationalService, and it was good to be given

communities, where donatingblood was seen as a social event,something you did with yourfriends, colleagues and neighbours.

Volunteer local organisers playedan important role in retainingdonors, always giving them a warmwelcome, while being invaluablesources of local knowledge fororganising sessions.

During the Second World War,campaigns were introduced torecruit donors and these were

backed by public figures, nonemore recognisable and influentialthan Winston Churchill. Otherfamous faces, such as HarrySecombe, demonstrated how easyit was to be a blood donor by givingblood themselves. Celebrities arestill important for blood donorrecruitment – Richard Branson andGary Lineker are just two famousnames to have supported the NBSrecently.

Modern developmentsThe voluntary donation of blood issomething that has never changedand is as important now as it wasback in those early days.

The health questionnaire that all

Today we take the NationalBlood Service for granted.Yet it started from very

humble beginnings, during theSecond World War, and is now oneof the most advanced blood ser-vices in the world.

Blood transfusion was demon-strated by James Blundell in the 19thcentury but, without understandingthe ABO blood group system,doctors couldn’t use the techniquesafely. Then in 1900 Dr KarlLandsteiner unlocked the mystery.

In 1921 a group of volunteersfrom the British Red Cross gaveblood at King’s College Hospital inLondon, which led to the formationof the first voluntary blood serviceand donor panel. During this time,blood transfusion was sometimesperformed directly from donor topatient. This was quite a difficultprocess, and could subject thedonor to some unpleasant sights!

Pre-war beginningsThe first blood bank was set up in1937, using methods for storingblood developed during theSpanish Civil War. With world warbrewing the bank prepared to meetthe need for blood for civiliancasualties. War came and in 1939four blood storage depots wereestablished in London. The blood

was put to good use in 1940,treating some of the 340,000troops evacuated from Dunkirk,and during 1940 and 1942 whenLondon and other major Britishcities were heavily bombed.

The war established that havingblood banks was a good idea, andin 1946 the National BloodTransfusion Service was founded,with ten Regional Transfusion

donors complete before donating isfar more extensive than in theservice’s early days. Then, donorswere asked just a few questions,such as had they had jaundice?Today, the questions we ask donorsare designed to help protect thehealth of donors and patients.

In 1946 donated blood wastested for blood group and syphilis.As medical knowledge haswidened, other tests for blood-borne diseases have beenintroduced – hepatitis B in 1972 andHIV in 1986, hepatitis C in 1991,and just last year a test for HTLV –human T-lymphotropic virus.

Important testsThese tests, and others we carryout, play an important role indetecting any blood-borne diseases

in donors, and ensuring thatpatients receive safe transfusions.

Despite only giving our blooddonors a cup of tea and a biscuit fortheir efforts, we have always strivedto offer our sincerest gratitude fortheir generosity. In the 1960s apublic ‘thank you’ was issued toacknowledge the one millionpeople registered as blood donors.

We continue to value our donors.Without our donors, volunteers andsupporters, both old and new,many patients lives would havebeen lost. Thank you.

The war established

that having blood

banks was a

good idea, and

in 1946 a national

blood service was

founded

Those were the daysHow much has changed since the NationalBlood Service first began? We take a nostalgiclook at the service from its early days duringthe Second World War to now…

Have you got a memory aboutbeing a donor that you’d like toshare? You can write to PennyRichardson, Editor, The Donor,National Blood Service, WestDerby Street, Liverpool, L7 8TWor email thedonor@nbs.nhs.uk

A loud speaker appeal unit inKingston Surrey, with a nursecollecting names of volunteers

Left: A nurse looks after a donorwho has just given blood, whilst others get the customarycup of tea

Above: Harry Secombe chats to aWRAC donor whilst donating atthe Army Blood Supply Depot inAldershot. Below: Blood collected andtransported in glass bottles.

A 1944 newspaper advertisementfor the first donor sessions inBristol, endorsed by none otherthan Winston Churchill

10 THE DONOR WINTER 2003 Become a blood donor today call 0845 7 711 711

P erhaps you’re one of thoseblood donors who havealready helped us increase

the number of potential bone marrow donors on the British BoneMarrow Register (BBMR).

Thanks to you it is now the eigthlargest register in the world. And atblood donor sessions all round thecountry, even more of you are fillingin forms and giving an extra sampleof blood for testing, which means itis also the fastest growing register inthe world. Thank you.

But what, you may wonder,happens to these samples?

They are sent to one of our tissuetyping laboratories. Scientists therehelp to ensure that patient anddonor tissue types are well-matched.

Dr Paul Dunn is responsible forco-ordinating a lot of the laboratorywork that goes on. He says, “Tissuetyping takes place at Colindale,Bristol and Newcastle, dependingupon where in the country theblood was collected. Research anddevelopment is also an importantpart of our work. Finding new andbetter ways for accurately typingpatients and donors is key.”

In the laboratoryAt present between 250 and 400samples are sent to each laboratoryevery week. Currently, eightsamples can be processed at onetime. A planned robotic system willprocess many more, helping thelaboratories cope during the busiestweeks when up to 1,000 samplescan be received.

Donors and patients are matchedby identifying their tissue type fromthe white cells in their blood. Whichis where your blood sample comesin. At the laboratory, the bloodsample is treated to extract thegenetic material (DNA) from thewhite blood cells (leucocytes).

There are six or seven genes thatare important for tissue typing.These have an influence on whethera transplant will succeed or fail.

Each gene has many types (oralleles) – one gene has almost 600alleles. A successful transplant isreliant on finding a very good match

coloured lines on specially treatedstrips of paper. A scanner copies thispattern of coloured lines andcomputer software interprets thetissue type from the pattern.

After careful checks the donordetails and their tissue type are thensent to the BBMR. These results areavailable to any transplant centreworld-wide looking for a donor tomatch a patient in need of a bonemarrow transplant.

More chances of a match “We test for more genes than manyother laboratories. This has enabledus to supply more potential donorsand more chances of a life-savingbone marrow match,” explains DrDunn. Internationally we findmatches for American or Germanpatients, but we have beensuccessful in finding matches forpatients in countries such as Poland,Israel and New Zealand.

Last year more than 40,000 newdonors came forward, but evenbetter was the fact that 40 percentof these added new gene types tothe register, making many moretissue matches possible.

We still need more bone marrow donors from all ethnic backgrounds. Why not ask for moredetails at your next session, or visitour website www.blood.co.uk formore facts.

NBS LABORATORIES

THE DONOR WINTER 2003 11Don’t forget the Helpline number 0845 7 711 711

She receives a blood transfusionevery four to five weeks, receiving two or three units ofblood each time.

Blood transfusions transformBalbinder’s quality of life. “About aweek or so before my nexttransfusion I start to feel very tiredand very weak. Once I’ve receivedmy transfusion I’m full of energyand I’m able to get on and dothings again,” says Balbinder.

She adds, “I would like to thankevery single donor because Iwouldn’t be here without theirdedication. I really appreciate thetime they take out of their day todonate blood because, quite simply,they have given me a new life.”

Haematology wards specialise intreating people with blood diseasesand disorders such as leukaemia,

RECIPIENTS

that are known today.

Finding the best match For patients with rare or unusualblood types, blood may be selectedfrom anywhere in the country. Ourrecords system, known as PULSE,makes it possible to find the bestmatch for a patient. Sometimes adonor is asked to donatespecifically for a particular patient.

Because of this, it’s vital that ourdonor base reflects society at large,and that means having donorsfrom different ethnic groups.

Certain communities have agreater prevalence of certain bloodgroups, for example Balbinderbelongs to the Asian communityand is blood group B. In fact, 25percent of Asians are blood group Bwhereas only 9 percent of WestEuropeans share this type.

For many patients, receiving aregular blood transfusion is quiteliterally a lifeline, enabling them toenjoy life in a way most of us takecompletely for granted.

at this allele level. So, with an estimated

100 million plus combi-nations of these alleles it isnot hard to see why findinga bone marrow match issuch an enormous task.

It also explains whycurrently, without a matchfrom within your family,there’s only a one in 50,000chance of finding a matchfor your bone marrowtransplant. For somepatients from minorityethnic backgrounds thechance is even less likely.

Identifying genesTissue typing involvesidentifying the genes withinthe DNA extracted from the donor’sblood sample. When particulargenes are present they show up as

Getting the right red stuff

The appliance of science

Matching blood is one thing, but matchingbone marrow donors to patients is acomplicated process that keeps scientists in our NBS laboratories on their toes

Balbinder Kaur, 24, knowsonly too well how thehaematology department

at her local hospital has helped toimprove the quality of her life.

At the age of three she wasdiagnosed with thalassaemia, an inherited blood disorderprevalent in Middle Eastern,African, Asian and someMediterranean communities.Without regular treatment shebecomes severly anaemic becauseshe can’t produce enough red cells.

Regular transfusionsBut there is good news. Oncediagnosed, thalassaemia can beeffectively managed and patientslike Balbinder can lead almostnormal lives.

As a child Balbinder was a regular visitor to the haematology department at BirminghamChildren’s Hospital. Now she goesto the adult centre in thehaematology department atBirmingham City Hospital.

How do patients with serious blood disorders stay well? Often it’s through regular transfusionsat haematology wards, where experts ensure theyget the right type of blood

chronic anaemia, haemophilia,sickle cell anaemia andthalassaemia. Donated blood iscrucial for treating all theseconditions.

But, the more blood a patientreceives, the greater the chancetheir immune system recognisesthe transfused blood as ‘foreign’and reacts to it. To avoid this,donated blood is matched closelyfor patients needing multipletransfusions.

Many patients treated in ahaematology department aretyped not just for the major groupsO, A, B and AB that we all belong tobut also for other blood groupsystems that could be present.

For example Kidd, Duffy and Kell are just three of more than 25 other blood group systems

Dr Adam Stretton (above) and DrPaul Dunn (below) at work in theNBS tissue typing laboratories

Monthly blood transfusionskeep thalassaemia suffererBalbinder alive

collect different volumes fromdonors and also the hospitalsexpect to receive a standardproduct from us. The currenttarget volume 470ml allowsanyone who weighs 50kg (7st12lbs) to donate safely. However,we are considering newprocedures which would allowsome heavier donors to donateeither larger volumes or morefrequently in the future.

A special birthdayOn July 14th this year my husband,Steve, celebrated his 50th Birthday,and was also due to attend a donorsession. He had a feeling that itcould be either his 49th or 50thsession, but couldn’t be sure.

Imagine his delight as it was his50th and he was presented with hisgold badge, pen and letter which hefound extremely moving. I wonderhow many times this double 50thhas happened on the same day?JILL WILLIS

WALTON ON THAMES

Finger on the pulse!I first gave blood as a young woman in the late sixties. However,when at two consecutive sessions it was impractical for adonation to be taken and I was sent away with a packet of irontablets, I stopped attending.

In 2000 I underwent major abdominal surgery and neededtwo units of blood. My conscience pricked, I was eager to tryagain to be a blood donor. More surgery meant I wasn’t able toregister until October 2001.

So it was that at the age of 52, I attended my first session in 30 years. I have now successfullygiven 6 units and look forward to many more donations.Congratulations on the magazine, I think it really stimulatesinterest in the scheme.IRENE E HIRST ACKWORTH NR PONTEFRACT

OVER TO YOU

IS IT TRUE THAT...

QI’ve heard that blood isused for research. Isn’t it

all needed by patients?

AWhen you come to donateblood the leaflet you are

asked to read, tells you thatoccasionally blood that is notneeded for transfusion may beused for research and developmentwork. All such use is carefullycontrolled, ethical approval isobtained where appropriate andno donor is identified.

QI had rheumatic feverwhen I was eight. Why

cannot I be a blood donor?

A If you’ve only had one attackand have fully recovered then

we could accept you as a donor. Ifhowever you have damage to yourheart valves and you have beentold you must take antibioticsbefore you have any dental workthen we would not accept you asdonation could put you at risk.

QI am a vegetarian, can Igive blood?

AThere is no problem withvegetarians giving blood.The

red blood cells, which require ironfrom the stores in your body, willneed to be replaced after thedonation. Provided you eat a well-balanced diet you should be ableto replenish your iron supply withina month. However, this may take

longer because you are avegetarian.

QI read in the paper aboutan Australian donor who

had given 804 pints of blood in48 years. That’s nearly 17 timesa year. How’s this possible?

AThis man is not a whole blooddonor. He donates plasma

only, by apheresis machine. InAustralia these plasma donors areable to donate every two weeks.It is safe to donate plasma sofrequently because the processseparates the red cells from theplasma and return the red cells tothe donor, so there is no risk of thedonor becoming anaemic.

12 THE DONOR WINTER 2003 Find where to give blood visit www.blood.co.uk

Value for moneyI thought the NHS was tryingdesperately to offer the public’value for money’. Then why onearth do you send magazines topeople who are already donors.

Secondly a few days before I wasdue to give blood I received atelephone call asking would I beable to attend. So clearly a waste ofNHS money?M WILLIAMS

STOCKTON BROOK

Editor’s response: The cost ofproducing and mailing TheDonor is about 23p each copy.The magazine has a number ofaims. As well as keeping regulardonors informed of changes, it isintended as a medium to recruitand encourage new donors. Italso helps to encourage donorswho haven’t given for some timeto come back. If you do not wishto receive a copy we can amendour records to show this.Many of our donors appreciatebeing contacted a few days

before they are due to giveblood. However we appreciatethat some regular donors do notneed this reminder. Again wecan arrange for these calls tocease if you prefer.

Weighing up the oddsMy wife weighs 10 stone and Iweigh 15 stone and we are bothblood donors.

If my wife gives the average

donation of 470mls each time sheattends, shouldn’t I – being half asheavy again – be giving 705mls.ROY STRINGER

CHESTERFIELD

Editor’s response: You are right -there is a relationship betweenblood volume and body size. As ageneral rule, bigger people couldsafely donate a larger volume ofblood than smaller people. Atpresent it is not practical for us to

We answer some of your questions about donating

Due to shortage of space not all publishedletters are printed in full. Whilst we welcome your letters, we cannot guar-antee a reply or to publish them.However, any complaints raised will beresponded to via our complaints proce-

THE DONOR WINTER 2003 13Become a platelet donor call 0845 7 711 711

Just don’t call it junk mail!”says Graham. Understandablyhe can be a bit defensive

when people say direct mail issomething to toss in the bin.Having worked as part of the smallDirect Marketing team, based inTooting, for two and half years,helping manage postal and telephone communications withdonors, he knows what the NBSdoes is the opposite of what manycommercial companies do.

“We’re not trying to sellsomething like insurance or creditcards. What we try to do is toprovide donors with theinformation they want or need,” hesays. “It could be an invitation togive blood, a donor card or a leafletwith details of local sessions. Ifthere’s a change in our guidelines,donors need to know, it could savethem a wasted journey.” Nearly 75percent of donors surveyed recentlysaid that they prefer to receive aletter or card reminding them todonate.

Blood stocksFirst thing, Graham looks at theblood stock figures. B negative islooking rather low and he sets theball rolling for extra telephonereminders to the B negative donorsdue to give in the next few days.“Sometimes donors complain thatwe are writing or calling them toomuch. But we only contact themfor a good reason, like when acertain blood group is low,” saysGraham.

Graham then goes into ameeting to discuss therequirements for the impendingAugust Bank Holiday with Loop, theBradford based company thathandles our outgoing calls todonors. Plans are made to increasethe amount of calls to donors, andGraham ensures there will beenough trained staff available tomanage the extra work.

“Holiday periods are always achallenging time,” he says. “Withpeople going away, our collectionlevels fall. However, we can’t letblood stocks drop. To meet hospitaldemand it’s important that weencourage as many donors as we

can to come and donate over thisperiod. “

Cost consciousThe discussion ends and its lunch.Afterwards, Graham and hiscolleagues have a short meeting todiscuss the emerging Christmasplans.

He says, “This year, we’re

MY LIFE: Graham BrownASSISTANT DIRECT MARKETING MANAGER

Bringing the NBS directly to you

Our direct marketing department keeps the NBS in touch with you, the donor. GrahamBrown, assistant direct marketing manager,takes us behind the scenes on a typical day

planning to send donors a calendarwith The Donor magazine. This isjust a small token of ourappreciation, but we also hopedonors will use it to plan theirsessions for next year”. Including itwith The Donor means there will beno extra postage cost in sending outthe calendar.

By now it’s mid-afternoon andGraham sits in on a telephoneconference with Royal Mail.Afterwards, he explains,“Everything has to be mailed as costeffectively as possible. We’recurrently renegotiating the postagerates for much of the mail we sendout. Partly sorting our mail before itgoes to the Post Office helps to keepcosts down.“

That job done, Graham dealswith some e-mails from Stralfors,the company that handles the vastmajority of mail that donors receive.Every six weeks, they produce nearly80 different versions of the leafletthat gives details of local donorsessions.

He checks one of the latestleaflets and makes a few last minutechanges before it goes to print thenext morning. “This takes a lot ofour time up but it is worth it” saysGraham, “research suggest thatnearly 80 percent of donorsregularly use it.”

By now it’s six o‘clock andGraham packs up to go home. Hisfinal comment is, “If you’ve everdonated blood, you will havereceived something from thisdepartment.”

Graham with just some of theadvertising and marketingmaterial produced to encourgaepeople to give blood

Editor’s response: Thank you for your letter. For many women,fluctuating iron levels can mean that they are not always able todonate. However, I’m pleased that you are now a regular donoragain. Many people who have donated previously never do comeback to us, although donors can re-enrol or indeed come along forthe first time up until the age of 60. I’m glad you enjoy our magazine,maybe you could pass it to a friend. Who knows it might encouragesomeone else to come with you next time you give blood.

This is your chance to tell us your news, views and interesting or unusual donor stories. Write to Penny Richardson, Editor, The Donor, National BloodService, West Derby Street, Liverpool L7 8TW or email thedonor@nbs.nhs.uk

STARLETTER

STARLETTER

Star Winner Irene Hirst

STARLETTER

STARLETTER

A Star Letter will be chosen fromall your letters for the next issueof The Donor. The writer of theletter will be invited to visit aBlood Centre and given a behindthe scenes tour. You’ll don awhite coat, visit our laboratoriesand see first hand just what hap-pens to a donation of blood.You’ll get to meet the peoplewho are responsible for makingsure that vital blood and bloodproducts get from the donor tothe patient who needs them.

“We try to

communicate with

donors only when

there’s an

important reason”

“

TISSUE DONATION

granted, trained NBS staff arrangeto interview the family to gatherinformation about the donor.

Jan says, “We rely heavily on helpfrom other professionals, whocome into contact with bereavedpeople, and we can’t do our jobwithout them. That’s why we are sopleased that Essex Police,particularly the road policingdivision, have taken it on board.

They talk to families about tissuedonation despite the very difficultcircumstances both they and thefamily are in at the time. They aredoing a really marvellous job.”

The officers were thanked and their work recognised in July 2003 at Essex Police Headquarters inChelmsford (pictured below). Plaqueswere presented to Steve Brewer,Inspector of Road Policing and MickBeale, Road Policing Instructor.

Amongst those who spoke atthe ceremony was Eileen Russell,

14 THE DONOR WINTER 2003 Become a bone marrow donor call 0845 7 711 711 THE DONOR WINTER 2003 15The Donor Helpline 0845 7 711 711

PRIZE CROSSWORD

If you have a general enquiry or need any information about givingblood, just call the 24 hour Donor Helpline on 0845 7 711 711 andstaff will answer your queries on:

• Where you can give blood locally• Whether you are able to give blood• Your donor session details• Becoming a bone marrow donor• How to become a platelet donor• Medical aspects of giving blood• How travelling abroad might affect your giving blood• Any other general donor mattersRemember, you can call the Helpline to tell us if you have moved house orchanged employers – we don't want to lose you!DON’T FORGET BBC2 Ceefax page 465 will give you details of the next twodays’ blood donor sessions in your TV region.

NBS INFORMATION

Permanent Blood Donor Sites If, for any reason, your local donor session is no longer suitable, then it may be more con-venient for you to attend one of our permanent Blood Donor Sites. Please call the DonorHelpline to find out the details of the centres listed here: NORTH Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield. NORTH EAST Newcastle-upon-Tyne. NORTH WEST Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester. MIDLANDS Birmingham,Leicester, Nottingham, Oxford, Stoke-on-Trent. LONDON Edgware, Tooting,West End. SOUTH EAST Luton, Cambridge, Brentwood. SOUTH WEST Bristol,Gloucester, Plymouth, Southampton.

As young heart patient Katy Homewood knows, donated tissues savelives. But approaching bereaved families takes special skills. We look athow the work of Family Liaison Officers with Essex Police have helpedto save and improve more than 250 lives in the past three years

whose husband Richard died in aroad accident. Following thedonation of his tissues, three liveswere saved including a young child.Eileen was approached aboutdonation by her FLO, PC MikeAshman in the early hoursfollowing Richard’s death.

Katy Homewood, a heart valverecipient, said a special thank youon behalf of all patients who hadbenefited from donated tissues.Katy is a normal healthy four-year-old, full of energy and enthusiasm,despite being born with a seriousheart defect.

Katy has had five heartoperations in her short lifetimeincluding a life-saving one toreplace one of her heart valves. Thevalve Katy received was donatedafter the death of a loved onewhose family were willing to helpother people at a very difficult time.

A difficult subject Tissue donation is not somethingmost families find easy to talkabout. Yet making your wishesknown to your family makes iteasier for them to carry them out ifthe worst were to happen.

Jan explains, “We wouldencourage people to considerbecoming a donor and mostimportantly talk to their familiessince they are the ones who willhave to make the decision.”

She continues, “Carrying thedonor card isn’t always enough, themessage is to tell your family.It’s crucial that people do discuss it in life.”

Many people can be consideredfor tissue donation after death.Unlike organs, tissues can bedonated up to 24 hours after aperson’s heart has stoppedbeating. The tissues donated byone donor may enable up to 40people to benefit from tissuetransplant surgery.

If you want to become a tissuedonor, you need to make yourwishes known to your family andfriends, carry a donor card andregister on the NHS Organ DonorRegister, which can be found atwww.uktransplant.org.uk

We always need new donors. So please, ifyou are not a donor, fill out the couponbelow, place it in an envelope and send it toNational Blood Service, FREEPOST, 75Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 7YB, or call0845 7 711 711 now to enrol as a donor.

SURNAME

Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss

FIRST NAME

DATE OF BIRTH / /

ADDRESS

POSTCODE

DAYTIME PHONE No

To give blood you need to be in good health,aged 17 to 60 and weigh over 7st 12lbs/50kg.Please send this coupon to the address above.MO6

I would like to join the NHS Blood Donor Register as someonewho may be contacted and would be prepared to donateblood. I understand that the National Blood Service (NBS) or itspartners may phone, write or otherwise contact me with detailsof local donor sessions. I agree to the NBS holding my person-al details on their donor database and processing this infor-mation as necessary for the proper administration of the NBS

Everyone knows that donated organs and bloodsave lives. But donated tis-

sues such as skin, bone, corneasand heart valves can also be life-savers, or even prevent a lifetime’s pain or disability.

Getting across that message isan important part of the work ofthe NBS’ small but vital team ofexpert tissue donor co-ordinators.They work around the country aspart of the Tissue Services depart-ment, liaising with emergencyservices, bereaved families andhospitals to help co-ordinate thedonation of tissues for transplant.

More tissue donors are alwaysneeded, and to promote aware-ness of this sensitive matter JanPurkis, deputy tissue collectionmanager for the NBS, has beenworking for the past three yearswith the Essex Police TrainingDepartment, which runs coursesfor the Family Liaison Officers(FLO’s) who go and speak tofamilies following road deaths.

Sensitive timeJan gives FLO’s the knowledge andconfidence to broach the subject oftissue donation with a bereavedfamily. Many officers have toapproach families within hours of adeath, when emotions are at theirmost raw. Once consent has been

Heartfelt thanks from KatyACROSS1 What are A, B, AB and O? (5,6)8 A fencer's interjection (2,5)9 A big feast or a comic? (5)10 Slang term for unit of blood (4)11 A youth not necessarily delinquent! (8)13 To remember (6)15 Skiing in a zigzag (6)18 Another name for a thrombocyte (8)19 A room in a hospital (4)22 A covering for a cake (5)23 A business offering flights (7)24 The comic actor who donated an armful (4,7)

DOWN1 A device carried by some hospital staff maybe (7)2 The heart is one in the human body (5)3 A Scottish dagger (4)4 Blood containing the ___ factor is ___ positive (6)5 A useful item in the rain (8)6 A cocker ____ is a breed of dog (7)7 Blood cells are produced in ____ marrow (4)12 A substance which might, say, cause a reaction

to penicillin (8)14 A horse-drawn wheeled vehicle (7)16 Sometime round about Wednesday (7)17 An angel, an anagram of phrase (6)18 Straight-laced! (4)20 A Spanish word used to address a friend (5)21 An element needed by people who are

anaemic (4)

Complete the crossword, then re-arrange the letters in the highlightedsquares to make a word relating to the NBS. Send this word on a post cardtogether with your name, address and daytime phone number to

Crossword Competition, The Donor Magazine, NBS, West Derby Street,Liverpool L7 8TW. You could win a new ‘Amazing’ NBS sports umbrella.Answers and winners will be in the Spring issue of The Donor.

Katy with her mother and fatherpresenting Essex Police with a‘Thank you’ plaque

At a recent ‘Thank you’ ceremony are (left to right), Jane Pearson, PC Mike Ashman, Inspector Steve Brewer,Katy, Lois Buckle, Everette Buckle, Sgt Mick Beale , Sgt Bob Beckwith, PC Tracey Bishop and Eileen Russell

Kenny Atkins, a firefighterfrom Bradford, had been ablood donor for six years

when he joined the BBMR.Eighteen months later he was telephoned to say he was a possible match for a patient.Further tests confirmed the match.

Kenny’s bone marrow wasdonated under general anaestheticat the Royal Victoria Infirmary inNewcastle, a process that tookabout 50 minutes.

“I was in slight discomfortafterwards,” says Kenny, “but I was

walking around again a few hourslater. After just ten days I was backon duty.”

The doubleThree months later Kenny wasasked to donate again for the sameperson. He agreed immediately.

“I had already gone so far inhelping this person so I was happyto do it again,” he says. Havingnow ‘done the double’ Kenny feelsvery positive about his experiences.

“Firefighting is a very satisfyingcareer but knowing that I gave thatpatient another chance in life issomething I will never forget.” It’sclearly something the recipient willnever forget either. Even thoughthe donor and patient remainanonymous, Kenny received a cardof thanks after the transplants.

NEWS EXTRA

16 THE DONOR WINTER 2003 Become a bone marrow donor call 0845 7 711 711

Kenny Atkins, (above), has beencalled on twice to donate bonemarrow. Debbie, left, with herdaughter was asked to donateten years after registering

Another donor, Debbie Lawson,a Newcastle midwife, was calledten years after she’d registered. Hersituation had changed during thattime, she says.

“I had gone from being singleand commitment-free to beingmarried with children. But being awife and mother made meconscious that if it was a member of

my family, I would hope someonewould be there for them.”

Debbie’s bone marrow wastaken, and after an overnight stayshe was back at home. Sheexperienced some discomfort butshrugged it off. “It’s a small price topay for a donation that willhopefully bring someone years ofhealth.” Afterwards, like Kenny,Debbie received an anonymousthank you card from the recipient.

“This really put my life inperspective and made the whole

experience real. There’s no doubt Iwould do it again,” she says.

Recently it was our turn to say’Thank you’ to our donors. A BoneMarrow Donor Awards Ceremonytook place in October in Newcastle.After the celebration dinner, 63donors were presented with acommemorative crystal decanter.

The guest speaker was DrGraham Jackson, ConsultantHaematologist at the Royal VictoriaInfirmary. He regularly carries outthe bone marrow collection

procedure, and knows how vitalthese donations are. He thankedthe donors on behalf of thepatients they had helped.

Join the RegisterOnly 30 percent of patients find adonor from within their own family,and with thousands of differenttissue types it’s not easy to find theright match. People from allcommunities are needed, as sometissue types are only found within aparticular ethnic group.

Volunteer donors, like Kennyand Debbie, are needed by the 70percent of patients who don’t havea family match. Each year the UKbone marrow registers receive anestimated 3,000 requests for bonemarrow matches from hospitalsacross the UK and around theworld. Joining the BBMR givespatients suffering from conditionssuch as leukaemia and aplasticanaemia a fighting chance.

You can find out about joiningthe BBMR at your next blood donorsession. You need to ask before youdonate as we need to take aseparate blood sample. For moreinformation call 0845 7 711 711 orvisit www.blood.co.uk

We raise a glassto our bonemarrow donorsThe decision to join the British Bone MarrowRegister (BBMR) isn’t always an easy one. Bonemarrow donors Kenny Atkins and Debbie Lawsonknow they made the right choice by signing up

PHO

TOG

RA

PHY

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IE B

ALL

“Knowing that I gave that patientanother chance oflife is something

I will never forget”