After over twenty years of being a blood donor, a local vicar serving in the Armley area has now achieved a landmark number of 500 donations.
Since 1996 the Revd Andrew Pearson (pictured), Priest in Charge of Wyther Venerable Bede, has consistently been a platelet donor, which takes around an hour and a half to extract, and from 2017 has also started to give plasma.
A platelet donation helps people undergoing surgery and treats conditions such as Leaukemia and Lymphomas.
Platelets are crucial tiny cells in the blood that help stem blood loss and promote clotting.
“Something I like and value about being a regular blood donor is that it is an act of grace,” said the Revd Andrew.
“I give because I can and I have no say about who will benefit from my donation: it could just as easily be a baby or a child, a middle-aged man or an elderly woman. To whomsoever it is given it gives life and it enhances their lives.
“Donating is not painful, apart from a little jab in the arm to start with, and it can help save lives, a lot of lives. I am told that a single donation can help save up to four people so, in theory, I might have helped save – or improve – the lives of two thousand people.
“After donating I always get a message from the hospital telling me where my donation went; my 500th donation went to Birmingham University Hospital but others have gone to London, Leicester, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle.
Andrew says as long as his health and circumstances permit he will aim to keep giving and hopes to perhaps reach a thousand donations before his seventieth birthday.