Published at 11:24, Tuesday, 15 June 2010

MARGARET Foster has been giving blood on and off for 40 years. Now she has received some herself.

Margaret is originally from Crosby near Maryport but moved to Darlington at 18 to attend teacher training college. A few fellow students were going to give blood so she went along with them.

“It was quite a social event,” recalls Margaret, now 59. “But it was also a valuable thing to do and it was nice to know you were making a contribution to life.”

Margaret then taught in Doncaster for a few years. But when she moved back to Cumbria, to a post at Wigton Infants School, she felt it was time to start giving again.

And 30 years later she found herself on the receiving end.

“I never imagined I’d end up being given it too,” she admits. “But four years ago I had a hip operation and a few days after it my blood levels weren’t back as they should have been, so I had to receive some.”

Last week Margaret underwent another hip operation – and another blood transfusion. “I was bleeding a lot during the operation so I had to get another while I was still unconscious. The doctors told me I needed two litres.”

And it has brought home to her the need for continued donations, especially in the summer.

“I’d never connected the two until I got a transfusion. But it’s really important. And my blood type, O rhesus positive, is the most common so it is needed most.

“When I’m able to give again – and as long as I’m mobile and healthy – I’ll keep giving.”

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk