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Blood donor's target of 100 achieved by friends

Alexandra Bassingham,West of Englandand
Laura Jones,Wiltshire
Family handout Adam Wise, on the right wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a silk pale green tie, as he grins at the camera. Lucy Wise, to the left, in a black v-neck top with her brown hair swept over her left shoulder and a gold chain necklace and gold hoops in her ears. She is smiling. Between them is a boy with short brown hair and a girl wearing a floral dress, both smiling at the camera.Family handout
Adam Wise was nearly halfway through his target of 100 donations when he died in February

A man whose lifelong goal was to donate blood 100 times has been honoured with a mass blood donation by friends and family after his unexpected death in February.

Adam Wise, from Wiltshire, was almost halfway through his goal with 47 donations before he died aged 40.

His sister Charlotte Keogh, 38, who organised the blood drive at Melksham Sports and Social Club on Monday, said she was "pleased and relieved" they managed to give 64 donations, bringing the total to "111 [donations] in Adam's name".

The NHS Blood and Transplant service said Wise would have helped as many as 141 seriously ill people during his lifetime.

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Keogh, who shared her brother's story through BBC Your Voice, said achieving the goal "was never a given because some people who turned up on the day weren't able to donate".

"I think my brother would have been really chuffed and proud of everyone."

She said she hoped her brother's legacy would inspire others to become blood donors.

Charlotte Keogh in a black top and dark hair worn down. She is smiling and in the background there are people lying on blood donor chairs and others sitting waiting with staff in blue outfits helping.
Charlotte Keogh said her brother would have been proud of everyone who helped achieve his goal

Wise's grandfather made 99 blood donations in his life, so Wise set the target of 100 to go one more.

He regularly donated with his dad Simon Wise, 65, who said: "I always used to give blood with Adam.

"We used to book sessions so we'd be at the seats side by side and see who could give blood the quickest, which is not recommended but it was just a thing that we used to do."

He said it was strange giving blood at the drive earlier "because he's not here".

Lucy Wise in a black Metallica t shirt, and her brown hair swept over her left shoulder. She is smiling and in the background there are people lying on blood donor chairs and others sitting waiting with staff in blue outfits helping.
Lucy Wise said the show of support for her husband was "really phenomenal"

Adam's wife Lucy Wise, 37, who survives Adam with their 10-year-old son and five-year-old daughter, said: "Adam spent his whole life loving everybody and giving everything he had to his family and his friends, and anybody on the street.

"To see our community loving him back is really phenomenal."

Mike Doswell, area manager for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "It is wonderful to see Adam's family and friends coming together to give blood in his memory.

"The need for blood never stops. Right now there is a particular need for more O negative, B negative and Ro donations.

"We also need more young people to start giving blood regularly as they are the donors of the future."

Doswell said they need help to "rebuild vital stocks that have been hit by the recent heatwave".

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