UK man returns yearly from Australia to donate platelets

A UK man based in Australia has won a Metro prize for being a decent bloke, for his yearly acts of kindness performed across 16,000km of land and ocean.

Having lived in Australia for over 20 years, Robin Miller, 65, nonetheless travels back to the UK every year to donate platelets for cancer and leukaemia patients to the NHS. Platelets are one of the components found in our blood, which perform the function of clotting in order to prevent bleeding.

According to the NHS, platelet donation is vital to ensure patients who are unable to make enough platelets in their bone marrow due to disease or treatment receive transfusions to replace those lost through bleeding. Donations are life-saving and each donation can assist up to 3 adults or 12 children.

Mr Miller first started donating blood after a friend suffered kidney failure and required transfusions. He now travels from Melbourne, Australia each year to continue donating platelets. As he told Metro, “If it helps alleviate the suffering of children with leukaemia and extends and improves their quality of life, why wouldn’t you?”

NHS welcomes all potential donors. You can become a platelet donor if you are generally in good health and, if you haven’t donated before, aged 17 to 65. If over 65 you can be accepted as a platelet donor if you have given blood before.  Currently NHS is looking to boost recruitment of A negative group donors and these donations can be given to patients with blood groups other than their own.

For more information on making platelet donations and for your nearest donation centre go to Blood.co.uk/platelets.