Isabella's story

Baby Isabella, her mum Lauren, and her gran Donna have all had lifesaving blood transfusions

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.

'This means we have three happy and healthy generations in our family, all thanks to blood donors. Looking forward to Isabella's first Christmas this year is particularly poignant.

'We'd like to remind donors that your gift keeps on giving for many years - or in our case many generations.

'We cannot thank you all enough. We would like to encourage everyone to consider giving blood, platelets or plasma.'

Debbie McNaughton, Associate Director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS), said: 'We’d particularly 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.'

Debbie 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.

• To check your eligibility and to book an appointment, visit our website or contact us at nss.snbtsenquiry@nhs.scot or by calling 0345 90 90 999.