Rotherham's 'blood heroes' rewarded

They were among 61 dedicated donors honoured by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) at the event in Sheffield.

All donors who received awards had donated blood on at least 75 occasions and had given over 4,000 pints in total.

Fourteen of the lifesavers were commended for reaching the milestone of 100 blood donations or more.

Peter Charity and Andrew Keyworth each received a crystal decanter in recognition of donating blood on 100 occasions, while five other donors from Rotherham—David Henderson, David Shaw, Eric Jarvis, Margaret Mitchell and Gillian Staniforth—received a crystal plate in recognition of donating blood 75 times.

Guest speaker Marie Collinson-Wallace spoke about how grateful she was personally that people took time out to donate blood, after her daughter Olivia was diagnosed with leukaemia and needed 21 pints of blood while in hospital.

Olivia is thankfully now in remission and her mum now works as a donor relations assistant.