Fiona Shearlaw vowed she would make 50 donations to the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) after her dad, Andrew Smith, known as Kelly, suffered a serious injury at his work at the Dunbar cement plant almost 50 years ago.
Kind-hearted Fiona was just a youngster at the time of the accident in 1971 but recalls going to visit her dad in Bangour Hospital, near Dechmont, West Lothian.
She said: “He was in Bangour for nine months and they had to take a skin graft and rebuild the back of his eye.
“He lost his left eyelid and he was in for nine months.
“I was only four at the time and remember going to visit him.
“I remember sitting on his knee and he told me that he needed seven pints of blood.
“I can honestly remember saying ‘when I’m a big girl, I’m going to give blood’.
“When I did the first donation, I thought it would be my goal to get to 50. I always hoped my dad would be here to see me do it and he is 81 years old.”
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