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Soldier issues 'give blood' plea | Soldier issues 'give blood' plea |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A soldier who served in Afghanistan has urged people to give blood after he suffered a serious road accident. | |
Staff Sgt Paul Farrington almost died in a motorbike crash near his headquarters in Arbroath last June. | Staff Sgt Paul Farrington almost died in a motorbike crash near his headquarters in Arbroath last June. |
He was unconscious and needed three units of blood at the roadside. In hospital he was given 19 transfusions. | |
The call comes as the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service urged everyone in Scotland over the age of 17 to give blood at least once in 2009. | |
New figures show there are 29,000 fewer blood donors north of the border compared to a decade ago. | |
In 1998 there were 208,000 donors in Scotland, that has now dropped to 179,000. | |
Following his accident, Sgt Farrington was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee where he received 19 blood transfusions. | |
In total, it took an estimated 46 donors to save his life. | |
He said: "Without the blood at the roadside and in the operating theatre I could easily have been another fatal statistic. | |
"I and my family will always be grateful to the donors who saved me." | "I and my family will always be grateful to the donors who saved me." |
Jacqueline Millar, local donor services manager, added: "We need everyone in Scotland who is over the age of 17 to make the commitment to come forward and give blood at least once in 2009. | Jacqueline Millar, local donor services manager, added: "We need everyone in Scotland who is over the age of 17 to make the commitment to come forward and give blood at least once in 2009. |
"This will help reverse the donor base decline we are now witnessing. The decline in donor numbers is very worrying. | "This will help reverse the donor base decline we are now witnessing. The decline in donor numbers is very worrying. |
"We need more donors to come forward to make this commitment to make sure that we can continue to support Scottish healthcare." | "We need more donors to come forward to make this commitment to make sure that we can continue to support Scottish healthcare." |