York man with rare blood type makes 100th donation

A man with a rare blood type who made his 100th donation this year is encouraging others to give blood.

Robert Boocock, from York, has been donating his rare B-negative blood for 40 years, after being inspired by his uncle, also a long-term donor.

The 61-year-old is one of fewer than 20,000 B-negative blood donors in England, according to NHS Blood and Transplant.

The NHS said it had lost almost 1,000 B-negative donors in the last year – or 5% of the B-negative donor base.

When Mr Boocock was 21 and working for his uncle, he asked why he would regularly donate blood.

“I hadn’t realised that when I was quite young, my auntie had an operation that went slightly wrong, and she needed over 20 units of blood to make it through,” he said.

“That got me thinking, that’s 20 people that can only donate once every few months.

“I thought, I’ve got spare in my body, so why don’t I volunteer?”

By donating over the years, Mr Boocock found out that his blood was suitable for newborns, who can only be transfused with blood lacking cytomegalovirus (CMV), a mild and common virus that most people catch as a child.

“Occasionally when I donate, they say this one will be going to the neonatal ward,” the donor said.

“That’s quite a nice thought that it’s going straight to a little baby perhaps that doesn’t know they need it.”

The NHS has appealed for younger donors to give blood, as up to 200,000 new donors are needed each year to replace those who stop donating.

“I liken donating blood to a bank account, basically,” Mr Boocock said.

“Unless you put some in, how could you rely on there being some there when you may need it?”

After 73 donations, his uncle had to stop for health reasons – which encouraged Mr Boocock to keep going.

“Once I passed that, I thought, I’m not going to stop now. Let’s see how many I can keep going with, until I no longer can,” he said.

“Hopefully that will be for many years to come.”