Black people are dying from a shortage of blood and organ donors.

Black people are more likely to have a certain specific blood groups and often inherit genetic conditions like sickle cell – which requires blood transfusions to treat. 

However, the NHS says black people are less likely to donate due to a lack of tradition with donations and cultural barriers such as family disapproval.

Davinia Caballero, 33, from Brixton, London, needed a transplant after her kidneys were damaged by sickle cell disease. 

She needed a dialysis and blood transfusions during her treatment just to stay alive.

Davinia received a kidney from her brother David through living donation in 2017.

She said: “I was lucky. 

"Without my brother’s generosity I may have faced years on dialysis because of the lack of donors, particularly from black backgrounds.

“People in our community don’t talk enough about organ donation and that needs to change.

“More black people need to step up as blood donors. 

“Blood transfusions helped me through dialysis and I have friends with sickle cell who rely on regular transfusions just to stay alive.”

Last year 31 patients from black backgrounds died waiting for a transplant and currently 632 black people still waiting. 

More than 5,800 people have become black blood donors in 2017 - almost double that of 2013.

Nationally there are 17,000 black blood donors compared with 13,000 five years ago – however they are still shy of the NHS’s 40,000 target.

Only 25 people from black backgrounds donated organs after they died and just 17 black people donated a kidney as a living donor.