A KEEN sportsman with a rare blood group has given other people the chance of life after his death in an motorway pile-up.

Jason Wike was one of just 3 per cent of the population in Britain with a rare blood group and his family made the decision to donate his organs and tissue to help other people.

The move will be particularly helpful to people with the same AB blood group but others could also benefit.

Mr Wike, 29, who lived in the Livesey area of Blackburn, suffered serious head injuries in a road accident near Carlisle on Tuesday.

He was working with Cashco, the armoured delivery section of the Post Office group, when the vehicle was involved in a pile-up on the M6 southbound carriageway.

Mr Wike was a keen sportsman with a great many friends in the area.

He played football with local teams, enjoyed body-building, was a golfer and also a keen Blackburn Rovers fan.

He was not married but was devoted to his parents, brother and sister and his young nephew.

The last time his family saw him Mr Wike was attending his grandparents' diamond wedding anniversary celebrations at the weekend.

Mr Wike's brother Mark, of Livesey Branch Road, said: "Jason was a genuinely nice man, he touched everyone who met him and everyone loved him.

"We didn't know if he carried a donor card or not but we knew he would have wanted to help people if he could.

"The hospital staff told us they could give so many others a decent chance of life that there really was no decision to be made. "At least now we feel that something good has come out of this tragedy."

Mr Wike, who has worked for the Post Office since leaving school, progressed from being a postman to working in the Cashco division about four years ago.

He and his partner Nathan Rialos, of Penwortham, took turns at driving the vehicle and guarding the cash in the back of the van.

On the return journey from Carlisle on Tuesday Mr Wike was in the back of the van when it was in collision with another vehicle on the motorway.

Mr Wike suffered multiple injuries and serious head injuries and was taken to Cumberland Infirmary, in Carlisle.

Mr Rialos and two men from Scotland suffered minor injuries and were released from the hospital after treatment.

Mr Wike was placed on life support equipment until preparations were made for the organ, skin and tissue transplants.

An inquest was opened yesterday in Carlisle and was adjourned until full details of the accident have been investigated.

Mr Wike leaves parents Anne and Darroll, a brother Mark, sister Michelle and nephew Harry.

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