A Cornwall boy saved by a major emergency transfusion after losing seven litres of blood is urging more people to donate as the NHS reveals fewer people are donating critical blood types – including vital O negative that saved his life.
Elliott Wills, aged 13, from Truro, lives with a blood disorder called spherocytosis. He was recovering from routine surgery last October when he suffered a burst main artery and haemorrhaged so much blood that doctors told his dad Phill to prepare for the worst.
As Elliott was rushed to theatre Phill watched 'a chain of porters' running down the corridor with bags of blood. But Elliott began bleeding out the donated blood as fast as it could be transfused, and a team of 20 people battled for three hours to save him.
Elliott survived thanks to the skills of the medical team and 23 units of blood products – potentially from 23 individual donors - which is the equivalent of seven litres or three times his body's circulatory volume.
Elliott is now doing well and looking forward to his birthday later this month - an occasion his family say he would not have lived to see without blood donors.
This National Blood Week (June 8 to 14) Elliott and his family are urging more people to come forward and start giving blood regularly to help save more lives like his.
It comes as NHS Blood and Transplant reveals that the number of regular donors with the in-demand types O negative and B negative has dropped five per cent since 2020.
Elliott has the rare B negative blood type but his life was saved by emergency supplies of O negative blood. O negative can be given to anyone and is used in trauma scenarios when a person’s blood type is not known, or if a hospital does not have fast enough access to stocks of a patient’s blood type.
Spherocytosis causes severe anaemia and Elliott has received routine transfusions of B negative blood to help him stay well. But last year complications from a virus left him needing his spleen and gall bladder removed.
During the five-hour procedure at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children Elliott received three units of B negative blood that were on stand-by to replace the blood he lost. The surgery appeared to go well, but later that evening Elliott’s blood pressure suddenly plummeted and an emergency ultrasound revealed massive internal bleeding.
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Phill, 53, said: “The alarm went off and a tannoy call went out for the crash team to scan room one. The room Elliott was in. The doctor appeared and told me: ‘It doesn’t look good’. He said Elliott had lost a drastic amount of blood.
“All of a sudden people appeared from nowhere. A chain of porters came running past me carrying bags of blood. As they whisked Elliott away I had just enough time to tell him I loved him.”
Elliott’s mum Gill had been unable to travel to the hospital for health reasons and was at the family home in Truro, Cornwall, with Elliott’s 12-year-old sister Marnie, so Phill waited for news accompanied by two parents of other children on the ward.
“That day was my eldest son’s 25th birthday and all I could think was, please don’t take Elliott on Josh’s birthday,” said Phill, 53, who is a carer for wife Gill, who lives with a spinal condition and is currently recovering from major surgery.
“At 1am my phone rang from a private number. I was terrified to answer. Then one of the other parents said it meant Elliott was alive, because if it was bad news they would tell me in person.
“The surgeon said Elliott basically lost all his blood. It was a race against time to get the donated blood into him. But he was losing that too.
"When Elliott’s notes said he’d lost seven litres I thought it was a typo. Surely no-one can survive losing that much blood. But Elliott is living proof they can, as long as the vital supplies of donated blood are there.”
Eliott spent three days in an induced coma. He then endured another setback when he suffered two seizures triggered by the trauma to his brain. But he recovered and after spending three weeks in hospital he was well enough to continue his recovery at home.
Elliott returned to Penair School in Truro in April and is making good progress. He tires easily and needs to take extra care when playing sports, but the devoted Manchester United fan is enjoying playing football with his friends once more.
Phill added: “Elliott is kicking a ball about again and that is because blood donors gave him a second chance at life. While Elliott was packing his hospital bag, someone out there was donating the blood that would save his life.
"Donors are heroes and so are the NHS teams who get the blood from the donor’s arm into the veins of a desperately ill patient like Elliott.”
Elliott said: “Thank you to everyone who gives blood. It helped saved my life. If you are thinking of giving blood please do.
"My mummy Gill had major spinal surgery back in March and also needed lots of blood.
"I’m looking forward to my 14th birthday on June 29 - a birthday I didn’t think I would have. Thank you blood donors for my gift of life.”
The NHS needs more than 155,000 new donors to give blood this year to ensure it has the right mix of donors to meet the needs of patients. This includes 18,500 donors with priority blood groups O negative and B negative, plus 16,000 extra donors of Black heritage to come forward to help improve treatment for patients with sickle cell.
Just eight per cent of the population have O negative blood but it makes up around 16 percent of hospital orders, meaning it is in constant high demand.
Only two per cent of the population have B negative blood, although it can be safely received by up to 13 per cent of patients. Both groups are highly vulnerable to shortfalls.
Gerry Gogarty, director of blood supply for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “It is wonderful to hear about Elliott’s recovery and of the gratitude that he and his family have for blood donors.
“For Elliott, blood donations not only ensured he survived a life-threatening bleed but also helped him to manage the blood disorder he lives with. His experiences shine a light on just some of the many ways that donors save and improve lives every day.
"You don’t need to know your blood type as you will find out after your first donation. Please register today and book an appointment. You may discover you have one of the ‘missing types’ that patients need right now.”
Register today and book appointment at www.blood.co.uk or via the NHS Give Blood app.
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