Milestone 10,000 trips for Lincolnshire’s blood bikers

The serious collision that ensued left Russ Smith with multiple life-threatening injuries and in a coma for two weeks – and it took a year for him recover.

During his initial treatment, he was given live-saving blood transfusions – sparking a longing within in after his recovery to give something back to those who helped him.

Russ, from Billinghay, explained: “I was told that a LIVES doctor was one of the first to respond to the collision, providing me critical emergency on-scene care.

“Initially I wanted to donate blood but was told I couldn’t due to the blood transfusions I received were post-1980 before the blood was screened for HIV.”

By chance he came across the charity, Lincolnshire Emergency Blood Bikes Service (Lincolnshire Emergency Blood Bikes Service (LEBBS)), at a bike night in Boston.

"My partner is an advanced biker and so I had done mine so finally through Lincolnshire Emergency Blood Bikes Service I had finally found a way of giving back for the life-saving help I received.”

Russ became a blood biker for LEBBS in 2018 – and this weekend became one of the 150 volunteers contributing to reaching the milestone of !0,000 rapid response, life-saving journeys since the charity was formed in 2012.

Over the past 10 years there has been a 2,000% increase in journeys.

Last year there were 127,433 operational miles covered – that’s 10k miles a month. The volunteers made 2,080 hospital visits –1357 of these were routine, 209 were planned and 514 were urgent.

To do this vital work, the team has 15 fleet vehicles – a mix of cars, bikes and vans. The blood bikers now also work in conjunction with the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance and have also clocked up 559 runs by air.

In playing a crucial role in transporting blood, medical specimens, notes, pharmaceutical products, equipment, and donor breast milk between hospitals and healthcare facilities, at no cost to the NHS, LEBBS relies on donations, which is why you will often see volunteers at country shows spreading the word around the county.

Most recently they were at Heckington Show and a charity bike night at The Ship & Atlantic Bar in Skegness, whose chosen charity is LEBBS.

Mayor of Skegness Coun Adrian Findley met some of the riders and praised their work.

“This valuable life-saving service is completely voluntary and relies solely on sponsorships and donations,” he said.

“They safely deliver precious bloods to pathology labs for testing but also breastmilk for babies in desperate need of a vital food source.

“At present, they only have a few vehicles and have only just recently raised funds to purchase three additional ex-police bikes.

“I had the pleasure of meeting the rider Paul Male, who was more than happy to explain a little more about this valuable charity organisation and the fantastic work the volunteers do.”

In summing up what drives the volunteers on, Russ said: “We all have our stories.

"Min is when I was called on to go to Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust to pick up some special formula for a premature baby and take it to the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby.

"When I arrived in Grimsby the nurses were waiting outside for me and rushed into the hospital with the formula.

"There was a hungry baby inside!

”It gave me a really warm feeling inside to see – stories like this make it all worthwhile.”

Anyone interested in offering help or support can contact the chairman Neville Wright by calling 07853146949.

There is no base because all the riders are remote riders with tags making it easier to find the nearest rider to go to where they are needed day or night.

The bike night is held every Monday night at the ship Atlantic bar in Skegness and they run raffles and 100% of the money raised goes to LEBBS.

There is also a LEBBS JustGiving page. To make a donation visit https://www.justgiving.com/lincolnshireemergencybloodbikes