A Daddy says thanks

When a group of his colleagues decided to give blood together at their local donor centre, Andrew Jackson joined in - to say a very special thank you.

Andrew says, "My wife is rhesus negative, and needed a special injection during her first pregnancy, in case her blood type was incompatible with the baby’s.  Thanks to this injection, Anna was born safely in 2011."

"What was unusual was that when my wife was pregnant with our second child in 2013, her blood type was incompatible with that of our unborn child, because the antibodies she had  produced during her last pregnancy now recognised our new baby’s positive blood type. This is very serious and could be fatal for the baby, as my wife's body was restricting the blood flow. The only way to save our baby was an intrauterine transfusion, where the baby receives extra blood while in the womb."

Lucy had an astonishing 85% of her entire blood volume replaced with donations Andrew Jackson

The couple were transferred to Southern General Hospital in Glasgow for this specialist procedure.

In October 2013, at 35 weeks pregnant, the specialists decided to do a planned Caesarean section on Jennifer and the couple welcomed Lucy into the world, a baby sister for Anna.

Lucy needed an additional blood transfusion when she was born, where she had an astonishing 85% of her entire blood volume replaced with donations.  Then, after two days in intensive care at Ninewells Hospital, Anna got to meet her new baby sister.

This year, the Jackson’s are enjoying their third family Christmas with Lucy, thanks to the generosity of blood donors. On behalf of Lucy and her family… thank you, and a very merry Christmas.

• To register as a blood donor, call us on 0345 90 90 999 or sign up.