BURY pensioner John Nangle has lost 75 pints of blood, yet he's as a fit as a fiddle!

For he's donated the blood over a long period to help save lives.

Now John (68), and fellow Bury donor 70-year-old Roy Baxendell have been honoured by the National Blood Service after reaching their 75th donation milestone. Each was presented with an engraved crystal plate.

John was recruited as a donor in 1958 when nurses visited his employer, British Gas. The importance was later reinforced when his father received blood transfusions during an operation.

Former docks manager Roy started giving blood when he was 18, during his National Service. After a short break, he began giving regularly again and has continued to do so.

The plates were presented to the duo by 22-year-old Sarah Holt who has a special reason to be grateful to blood donors.

She battled leukaemia twice and both times received a bone marrow transplant from her sister as well as chemotherapy at Christie Hospital, Manchester.

Only six per cent of the UK population eligible to give blood are active donors and, of that number, less than one per cent reach 75 donations.

For more information on becoming a blood donor, please call 0845 7711 711 or visit www.blood.co.uk instead.