DONATION
A Cambuslang man has been honoured for donating an incredible 125 pints of blood over a period of 41 years.
John Airens, from Westburn, first walked into a blood donor centre when he was 20.
And he’s not stopped visiting since. Now 69, John is still a regular with his efforts being marked by the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service at a ceremony in Glasgow’s City Chambers.
With a gap between reaching the milestone and receiving the award, John is now sitting at an even more impressive 129 pints.
At the ceremony, he and the other recipients were told the combined 14,000 pints of blood they had donated had helped save the lives of around 42,000 people.
John said: “To hear it put like that was unbelievable to be perfectly honest. “It’s not a fact you are doing it to get applause, it’s the simple fact that people need help.
“I have been very fortunate that the man above has given me good health.”
John has given blood regularly with the exception of a year he was signed off work and two periods when he returned from India.
After serving his time in the printing trade, he has also worked at Ravenscraig and in the motor trade.
Looking back on how he got started giving blood, he said: “My mum used to tell me about people who needed it when she was young.
“I found myself in the town one day going to play football and some students from the university were running about collecting for charity. I was skint to be honest so I went to give blood as I could then believe I had given something. “From that day I have given regularly. “I worked a lot when I was younger and couldn’t give as often as I would have liked. “Once I got older, I made a point of going more regularly.”
With the Scottish Blood Transfusion