PLAYERS at a Southmead football club have pledged to donate blood after their manager's sister-in-law nearly died giving birth.
The footballers at Southmead CS Athletic, which was recently promoted to the Gloucestershire County Football League, were handed blood transfusion service T-shirts and given cards so that they can now book appointments to give blood.
They hope their actions will both save lives and raise awareness about donating blood.
Manager Gary Booth, 33, who still plays for the team and is a former captain, was inspired to organise the event after his sister-in-law Marie, 28, recently went through a traumatic birth.
"My sister-in-law Marie recently had a baby and was left needing many pints of blood herself," he said.
"If it wasn't for this transfusion she would almost certainly have died.
"This was around three weeks ago and she is now making a full recovery – her baby Grace is also fine.
"But her experience got me thinking, as Southmead Hospital is always looking for young blood donors."
Gary and his mother, Lyn, got all the players together in an effort to encourage them to give blood.
They hope the event will lead to local supporters donating as well. Mrs Booth said: "It's worrying how few young people donate blood – we hope this event will kickstart something – we are going to hang banners around Southmead's new ground."
Gary told the Post: "Southmead is often thought of in a negative way and we want to show people what we can do to help.
"The club has always wanted to do something big for charity so when we had such a close family member affected by serious blood loss we were intent on supporting the cause, especially after seeing what good can come of donating blood."
Around 30 players, including the first and the reserve team, have now pledged to give blood and will do so over the coming weeks.
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