A nice surprise

As a child, Liliana spent time in hospital with pneumonia. The experience stayed with her and, she says, shaped the person she became.

Later, as a teenager, it inspired her to take up blood donation in her native Portugal.

"I always grew up thinking it was nice to help people," says Liliana. She noticed a blood donation bus at her local train station. "I'm not afraid of needles, so I thought, 'why not?'"

"It became a thing for me. It was fun and I always felt good afterwards."

Liliana continued to help people with her donations, both in Portugal and after moving to the UK, where she now lives near Brighton.

It was after her move that Liliana had a nice surprise: she was told that she had the rare, lifesaving Ro subtype.

"That motivates me more and gives me pride and joy," she says.

The Ro subtype is vitally important in treating sickle cell disorder. Sickle cell is so named as it causes red blood cells to become sickle shaped. These cells can become blocked in blood vessels causing extreme pain, health complications, and even death.

Sickle cell can be treated with red blood cell exchanges: a full replacement of a patient's red blood cells with those from donors like Liliana, every few weeks.

Such regular transfusions can lead to medical complications unless the blood is very well matched: as well as blood type like A positive or B negative, subtypes like Ro must also be considered.

Red cell exchanges often use many units of blood and demand for the Ro subtype is increasing every year.

But sickle cell predominantly affects people with Black heritage, and while the Ro subtype is prevalent in 47% of Black heritage blood donors, it is only seen in 3% of donors overall.

We need Ro donors of all ethnicities to give blood, as well as more new blood donors from Black backgrounds – something Liliana wants to raise awareness of.

"I feel like I am doing my bit for society," she says. "It is nothing – just one hour of my time. Why not donate and help others?

"Giving blood costs you nothing and you can make someone's life easier, or may even save their life. I am very happy I can help."

To book an appointment to give blood, log in to your online account.