Three generations of Scottish family receive life-changing blood transfusions
Three generations of one family have thanked generous donors after receiving life-changing blood transfusions.
Baby Isabella Mackay will soon celebrate her first Christmas, thanks to receiving an emergency blood transfusion after her birth in January.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIsabella has followed in the footsteps of her gra ndmother, Donna Webster, 61, and mother Lauren Webster, 35, who both received life-saving blood donations in the past.
When giving birth to Lauren, Donna received emergency blood - and when Lauren was 15, she experienced a case of sepsis that required a transfusion.
Donna, who lives in Blairgowrie, said: "Isabella was born in January 2024 and received emergency blood straight after her delivery.
"I received blood after the birth of Lauren. Lauren then needed blood aged 15 due to sepsis.
"She has now become a mother herself to baby Isabella.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"This means we have three happy and healthy generations in our family, all thanks to blood donors."
The family hope that by sharing their story, they can encourage more people to donate blood over the holiday season - as Scottish health services aim to get 15,000 donors for the festive period.
"Looking forward to Isabella's first Christmas this year is particularly poignant," said Donna.
"We'd like to remind donors that your gift keeps on giving for many years - or in our case many generations.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"We cannot thank you all enough. We would like to encourage everyone to consider giving blood, platelets or plasma this Christmas."
Debbie McNaughton, Associate Director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS), said: "There are currently 96,726 blood donors in Scotland.
"Whilst we are very grateful to them, our donor base still has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. It is very important we welcome more new donors.
"We'd also love to welcome younger donors - you can start giving blood age 17, but we notice up to 50 per cent fewer 17-year-olds coming forward from five years ago. As Scotland faces an ageing population, this poses a significant challenge."
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdShe added: "This year we're also excited to launch an additional campaign for people to donate plasma for medicines, which can be used to treat over 50 diseases, including babies with haemolytic disease - an inherited condition which affects red blood cells.
"Currently, we have 800 plasma donors in Scotland and we hope to welcome another 1,000 plasma donors in the next 12 months. You can donate plasma in any of our blood donor centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.
Ms McNaughton added: "As we move into thoughts of New Year resolutions, there can be no better commitment to make."
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.