Shrewsbury motorcyclist calls for more donors after blood saved her life
Ruth Corke suffered serious internal bleeding after a motorbike crash
A Shrewsbury motorcyclist is encouraging people to give blood after someone's plasma saved her life when she had a motorbike crash.
Ruth Corke collided with a car travelling around 70mph.
The crash happened in August 2022 and left 38-year-old Ruth with 13 broken bones and serious head and face injuries.
Ruth was thrown off her handlebars and into a ditch where the air ambulance found her and transported her to hospital.
During the 14 minute journey, paramedics gave her a transfusion of red blood cells and blood plasma.
"Without that blood, I might not have made it"
Ruth told us the transfusion saved her life: "I didn't find out until quite some time after that without that blood, I might not have made it.
"Beforehand I gave blood all the time and never really thought where it would end up. Now I understand that operations cannot happen without it.
"Whilst your giving blood, you can scroll through your phone or read a magazine. Something you would do in your own time, you can do whilst giving blood," she said.
Why should I give blood?
Ruth is using her story to encourage people to give blood. NHS Blood and Transplant said that donations drop in particular over bank holiday weekends.
There are four bank holidays in just 6 weeks because Easter has fallen late in 2025.
NHS Blood and Transplant said that was putting pressure on their blood stocks.
"We urgently need people to book appointments"
Laura Green, a consultant haematologist for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Blood donations are critical for saving lives after a traumatic injury.
"The red cells replace the blood you’ve lost, carrying oxygen around your body. And the blood plasma can help the blood to clot.
“We always need new blood donors but due to projected low stocks caused by the run of of Bank Holidays from Easter onwards, we urgently need people to book appointments," she said.