Critical call for black people to donate blood as 16,000 new donors urgently needed

The sister of a teenager with sickle cell disease has overcome her fear of needles and donated blood for the first time to help others like her brother who lives with the devastating impact of the blood disorder.

Zenith Seyi-Abiodun, 18, says she is giving blood to thank the blood donors who are saving her 16 year old brother Charming’s life and to encourage more Black people to help their family and the community by donating to help other sickle cell patients.

The siblings, from Gorton, in Manchester, came together for Zenith’s first blood donation in a symbolic reversal of their usual roles.