A man has urged Brits to roll up their sleeves, find a juicy vein and start giving blood after crucial donations saved the life of his sister-in-law while she was giving birth.
Jordan Perry, 28, knows the importance of having a steady supply of the red stuff all to well, as a transfusion was the only hope that his brother's wife, Natalie, when she experienced complications during labour in December 2022.
The drainage engineer, from Preston, explained that he has been offering his arm up to phlebotomists for the last 11 years after him and his pals decided to start donating during their college days - and none of them have stopped since.
He reckons the process gives him both a mental and physical buzz, which I suppose is expected seen as though you walk away after around an hour knowing that you might have just helped to save up to three lives.
Advert
Speaking to LADbible, Jordan explained: "In the past, I have described donating blood as an oil change. I stand by that metaphor, due to the feeling you get internally after your donation.
"Your body almost feels as though it is working hard to replace what has been donated and in doing so you feel better as a result of this.
"Not only that, but the sense of goodwill from knowing that your time in the chair and what you give will transgress into saving lives is one of the most amazing feelings you will ever experience. I will never tire of that feeling."
As we've established, Jordan is a stand-up guy - while many of us were bunking our college classes and smoking at the bike sheds, this lad was using his free periods to pledge his blood to the NHS.
Advert
But the gravity of his good deed only really hit home for him two years ago, when his sister-in-law lost over 2.5 litres of blood while giving birth to her 'wonderful' daughter Eloise - and bare in mind, that the average adult has around double that amount circulating in their body.
Jordan explained: "Obviously, this situation was 10 years after I first started to donate blood, but what it did highlight is that sometimes you may never see the direct consequence of a blood donation... or you may have to wait 10 years.
"But one thing is for certain, each donation will save lives."
He continued: "I have been donating blood since the age of 17 and now aged 28, Natalie is the first member of my family who I have known to need a blood transfusion during this time.
"I think what has always stayed in my mind is that you never know when you will need a transfusion yourself, or in this case someone close to you."
Advert
Natalie added: "At the time I had no idea what was going on, I lost a lot of blood after a long labour.
"If I didn’t have the blood transfusion, I wouldn’t be here today with my daughter and husband to see her growing up and enjoying everything as a family. It is that simple."
What happens when you donate blood?
Jordan insists it is super simple process - essentially, once it is confirmed that you are an appropriate donor, you sit down in a chair, get wired up by the nurses and start giving blood - which he says is easy, even though he's very 'squeamish'.
In the coming days and weeks of your donation, your phone might then flash up with a message of gratitude from the NHS explaining that your donation has been issued to someone in need.
Advert
"It is this text which really hits home not only the importance of your donation but puts into perspective where it has been received," Jordan said. "My last donation was used at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool."
The 28-year-old says anyone simply considering starting to donate blood is 'already a hero', but wants more Brits to get involved as the NHS struggles to find young donors.
For the first time in five years, there are more donors over the age of 45 than under, forcing the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to issue an urgent call to action.
It has launched a nationwide blood donor recruitment drive calling out for more younger people to become lifesavers in 2024 to plug the gap, as around 408,000 of the 798,000 people who regularly give blood are now 45 or over.
Advert
NHSBT recently unveiled the latest phase of its 'Giving Types' recruitment campaign, which encourages 17 to 35-year-olds to make a 'no sweat, feel good' start to the year by giving blood.
Although he understands it can be a hard thing to fit into your busy schedule, Jordan says giving blood should be at the top of your priority list - and he does it 'as often as he is allowed'.
He continued: "The biggest issue that most people, young or old, say, is that they simply don't have the time.
"In my 11 years of donating blood, I have yet to be in the donation session for longer than one hour - it's often less than 30 minutes.
"There are 8,760 hours in a calendar year. If someone were to say to you, 'How would you like to save up to three lives each time you donated by spending just four hours (or 0.045 percent) of your year donating blood?'
"Would you consider it? It really is that simple.
"I think in an ever increasingly fast paced world, often it is more important than ever to set time aside not only to do a great deed, but also switch off, which is what donating blood can help with considerably."
And how can we argue with that?
You can register as a blood donor and book your first appointment via the GiveBloodNHS app, visit www.blood.co.uk or call 0300 123 23 23.
Olivia Burke