Donors sought as NHS marks Plasma Donation Week
People across Surrey and East Hampshire are being urged to donate plasma to help save lives
People across Surrey and East Hampshire are being urged to donate plasma to help save lives.
It comes as the NHS marks Plasma Donation Week - by celebrating the impact donations have on people’s lives.
Plasma is the liquid in your blood which can be made into a medicine called immunoglobulin. This is then used to treat more than 50 diseases, including cancer.
Greatest Hits Radio spoke to Kate George, who has Common Variable Immune Deficiency. She'll be heading to donation centres this week to say thank you:
"I was diagnosed with Common Variable Immunodeficiency in 2011 and I rely on plasma donations for the medicine that I need.
"So from the plasma donations they extract the Immunoglobulins which I then receive on a weekly basis. My body doesn't produce Immunoglobulin, which is why I rely on the donations from other people.
"Without Immunoglobulins I would basically get some form of infection which would eventually kill me.
"We need more donors because if we don't have any donors, there's people like me who won't get the medication that we need to to survive.
"We're no longer able to source them overseas because of Brexit, we're now doing that in the UK."
Kate told us she'll be going into the donation centre in Twickenham, this week:
"I like to go. It's something I enjoy doing and I like to go to for two reasons. One to thank the staff because quite frankly without them, I don't have a life. They are the people who extract the plasma. Those are the people we need to do their jobs and be in those jobs because we can have as much plasma as we like. But if we don't have them to extract the plasma, then we're not going to get anywhere.
"So I love to go along and meet the staff, tell my story and to thank them, but also to meet the donors as well, because I think it really helps them understand what happens with their donation and I talk to them about my condition. I show them how the plasma ends up in the medication so that they can understand that. And I think the donors really appreciate that."
We asked Kate what she would say to somebody who is thinking about donating plasma:
"I'd say please donate.
"It's not that difficult to do. It's a relatively easy, painless procedure. You get free biscuits! The staff are absolutely amazing and you'll be saving people's lives.
"There are people like me who can't thank you enough for doing things like that for us."