Luke's Story
This is the story of Luke Golder, a local man who needed blood to save his life.
In June 2019, Luke Golder, 34 from Canewdon, Essex was rushed to hospital in cardiac arrest after a previously undiagnosed abdominal birth defect burst inside him causing massive blood loss.
The rare condition, known as Meckel’s Diverticulum, affects 2% of the population, which caused Luke’s small intestine to burst inside him causing sudden, uncontrollable internal bleeding. He lost multiple units of blood that where unquantifiable at the time but had 27 units of blood transfused to keep him alive.
Luke said: “The surgeons opened me up not knowing what to expect, I lost a significant amount of blood.”
Hospital doctors believe a chain of events could have been triggered by a virus in Jan 2018, which led to a brain haemorrhage in May 2018, a seizure in the Jan 2019 and finally the Meckel’s in June 2019. He needed a life-saving operation as well as the blood to keep him alive.
Now recovered, thanks to the care of the NHS and blood donors, Luke is desperate to raise awareness and encourage more people to donate blood. He is aiming to ‘repay the debt’
“Blood donation saved my life, it’s as simple as that. Thanks to generosity of 27 strangers that I will never meet, I am here still here today.”