Son saved by 16 angels, says attack victim's mum

The mother of a teenage attack victim has urged people to give blood after the generosity of strangers helped save her son's life.

Sarah said she "never imagined needing the NHS Blood and Transplant service" until she received a call "no parent ever wants" about her 16-year-old boy.

He had been violently assaulted and was rushed to the Manchester Royal Infirmary with life-threatening injuries. After 16 transfusions he was stable for long enough to have surgery.

"He wouldn't have been alive if it wasn't for the generosity of those 16 people," Sarah told BBC Radio Manchester. "I'll never know who they are, but they really are angels to me. We owe them everything for saving his life."

While nearly five years have passed, for Sarah, it's a memory that will never leave her.

"Nothing prepares you for that phone call," recalled the mum from Dukinfield, Tameside. "It's bad enough knowing your child has been seriously hurt.

"It's impossible to imagine losing them because the blood simply wasn't there.

"The gratitude that you feel as a parent - to know that those 16 people took time out of their day to be there and to save his life."

Sarah is now a regular blood donor and wants to encourage others to do the same.

"Please don't be put off," she said. "Blood donation is quick and easy and could mean everything to a family in the worst moment of their lives.

"It could be a newborn baby, a mother who's just given birth, a cancer patient... donating blood is really a lifeline to so many.

"I would hate to think that anybody wouldn't have blood available when their loved one needed it."

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