A great-grandmother is thought to have become the UK’s longest-serving female blood donor after giving 130 pints over 56 years.
Christine Newnham, 80, has saved many lives and never missed an appointment with her blood bank.
The retired nurse has donated three times a year since the age of 24. She said: “I was a nurse so needles never bothered me. I was happy to give blood. It made me really happy as I want to save lives.
“It’s very simple to do and it doesn’t take up much of your time. I’ve also met so many people at the donor centre, I have so many friends there now I can’t keep up.”
The NHS is 75,000 blood donors short of what it needs to recover from Covid, having relied on its smallest pool of donors in the 21st century during the pandemic.
We are calling on readers to become a Mirror Blood Hero and register to become a donor.
Christine, of Sittingbourne, Kent has seen the benefits of giving blood after a handful of close family members fell ill.
She said: “When my daughter-in-law’s dad became sick with a rare type of leukaemia, he needed lots of transfusions.
“He was given more time with us all and it was all down to blood donations, it’s an amazing thing.
“I had two women approach me in the blood bank who thanked me for saving their lives.
“I tried to explain it could have been anyone’s blood, but they just kept thanking me. It makes me cry every time I think about it.”
Register as a donor and play your part in the NHS recovery.
Visit www.blood.co.uk or call 0300 123 23 23 to register.
