A PREGNANT woman whose life was saved by a blood donation is appealing for more donors to come forward to help future generations.

Fiona Killick lived with an extremely rare blood disorder but didn’t know until she suffered potentially fatal symptoms whilst carrying her son Noah.

She suffers from a rare condition meaning some red blood cells can’t carry oxygen around the body.

Fiona said a blood transfusion saved her and her unborn son’s life.

“I can’t give blood so raising awareness is the best I can do to give back,” she said.

“You could walk past the person who gave blood and saved you in the street and never know.”

The 37-year-old was born with methaemoglobinaemia, (cor.) but it only affected 10 per cent of cells until she caught pneumonia twice and fell pregnant.

“I was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital high risk pregnancy unit where they discovered the levels had risen.

“My normal level was 10 per cent of the blood was the wrong haemoglobin but the machine couldn’t read high enough for my test.

“It was over 50 per cent and the doctors think it becomes fatal at 70 per cent. I was having to stop for breath after every word and if I moved my heart rate went to 170.”

Doctors performed a blood transfusion on Fiona at 28 weeks which helped her recover until she started to deteriorate again.

Doctors decided it would be best to deliver Noah who was born on July 30, 2015.

Her parents, Clive and Joan, supported her throughout with Clive taking her to Oxford from their Purley home for daily checks after Noah’s birth.

Visit www.blood.co.uk to find out where you can give blood.

NHS Blood and Transplant is uniting with 25 organisations across 21 countries to highlight an almost 30 per cent drop in people becoming blood donors last year compared to a decade ago.

Their Missing type campaign has been launched to tackle this shortfall and keep blood stocks healthy for future generations.