Len’s burger funeral wish
Car crash mum meets donor who saved her Plea for help as male donors fall by 25%
TRIBUTE Leonard’s coffin A GREAT-grandfather’s dying wish was granted when his hearse stopped off to buy him a final bacon double cheeseburger.
Leonard Durkin’s funeral car pulled into a Burger King drive-thru where the driver placed an order for his favourite £4.49 meal.
The burger was then placed on his coffin before he was cremated in Leeds.
The former miner died aged 71 after a long history of heart problems.
His son Peter, 50, said: “Dad had a brilliant sense of humour and wanted to do this. He’ll be having a good laugh from up there.” THE number of men giving blood has fallen by almost a quarter in five years.
There were 350,425 male donors in England in 2018/19 – down 24.8% from 2013/14 when there were 466,346, NHS Blood and Transplant said.
Mike Stredder, director of blood donation at NHSBT, said: “Men are able to help more patients with each donation, so we need a new generation of young male donors. Giving blood is quick and easy.” VITAL Blood bank Her mangled car A MUM has met and thanked the blood donor who saved her life after she nearly died in a 100mph head-on car crash.
Emily Pringle almost bled to death when one of her carotid arteries was ruptured.
And the 42-year-old got together with Karl Kellner, who gave one of the five litres of blood she needed, to inspire more men to donate.
Emily told him: “Your blood played a major part in keeping me alive and I am very grateful. I owe people who donate blood my life. It’s important for people to donate regularly.”
Emily, of Gloucester, suffered broken bones and a ruptured liver and spleen in the smash GIVING Karl and Emily
near Cheltenham, Glos, and was in intensive care for eight days.
She met graphic designer Karl, of Stafford, at a donor session in Birmingham after being brought together by NHS Blood and Transplant. He said: “It was amazing to meet someone you have helped.”
Mike Stredder, of NHS Blood and Transplant, said there is a “worrying” decline in male blood donors. He said: “Karl and Emily’s story is amazing and we need more men to start their own blood story.”