Dudley community champion becomes first time blood donor

Founder of the Saleem Foundation, Shaz Saleem, has made a video of his experience to encourage others to consider giving blood to help the NHS meet the demand for donors.

Shaz, from Kingswinford, said of his experience: "I donated blood for the first time, I want to first of all say a huge thank you to staff of The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Blood Donation who made the experience very comfortable. It took 12 minutes and a pint of blood was donated. I was amazed to learn just one donation can save up to three lives.

Shaz Saleem at his first blood donation session

"Donated blood is a lifeline in an emergency and for people who need long-term treatments. This is why it's so important we do our bit in supporting one another. I found the whole experience very comfortable, the staff were brilliant and explained the whole process and answered all questions.”

Shaz, manager of Beacon and Express Taxis, added: "There is a need of nearly 5,000 people to give blood every day to meet the needs of hospitals and patients. There is a huge demand for new black donors to provide blood donations for black patients with sickle cell disease.

"They need life-saving blood from black donors, which provides the closest match to their own. There is also a greater need for male donors and O negative donors - hospitals need this blood type most regularly as it can be given to all patients.

"It is so simple to become a donor by going online to www.blood.co.uk and registering your details on database."

Jayne Waltho, secretary of the Saleem Foundation, said: "I have been a donor for many years now, its such a beautiful gift to give, I applaud Shaz for raising awareness and I would encourage others to become a donor.”

To see Shaz's video of his first blood donation session go to https://youtu.be/FXFd96tUGwc and to sign up to become a blood donor call 0300 123 23 23.