Urgent appeal for blood donors across Greater Manchester as stocks are low ahead of Christmas
They're low on O-Negative and B-Negative
Last updated 21st Dec 2017
People with two valuable blood groups are being urged to donate at Manchester Donor Centre now.
NHS Blood and Transplant needs donors with B negative and O negative blood to donate after the bad weather hit blood collection.
Donors with these groups will be able to walk in and donate at Norfolk House Donor Centre on Brown Street in the City Centre.
The recent freezing weather and snow put many people off donating, and led to some cancelled sessions, meaning stocks of these valuable groups are lower than seriously ill hospital patients will need this Christmas.
Staff at Norfolk House were also given an award as a thankyou for their hard work the morning after the Manchester Arena attack.
Hundreds of people queued up outside the centre to donate blood in the hours after the attack.
Sam Roden from Hale had acute pneumonia - thanks to 30 blood donors - it saved his life:
O negative is the universal donor blood which can be safely give to almost anyone, making it especially valuable for trauma patients where there is little time to test for blood groups. Only 9% of donors are O negative.
B negative is particularly important because many patients with serious blood disorders such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia need B negative blood. Only 2% of donors are B negative and it is a blood group more common in black and Asian people