My Blood, Your Blood ~ New Children’s Picture Book

I am honored to have written another children’s picture book; My Blood, Your Blood. This book is very personal; the themes are Sickle Cell and Blood Donation. I had 10 units of blood 13 years ago.

The book is based on Angel Salami, who has Sickle Cell and is illustrated by Zenovia Grant.

We had the launch in Van Gough, primary school in Brixton, a big thank you to Nadine Bernard the headteacher, for hosting the launch.

 

Photo: Laura, the children of Van Gough primary school  and Zenovia. Photo Credit:

Phillip Coburn/Daily Mirror

Thank you to NHS Blood for the press release and please give blood if you can.

In the press:

ITV London News:

BBC London News:

The Daily Mirror:

Brixton Blog:

The Voice:

 

Photo: Angel with her dad, Kehinde Salami. Photo Credit: Phillip Coburn/Daily Mirror

PRESS RELEASE:
London schoolgirl’s life with sickle cell immortalised in children’s book to inspire a new generation of Black heritage blood donors

• NHS Blood and Transplant commissioned children’s book provided free to all four-year-old pupils in Brixton to demystify sickle cell disease
• Angel’s story to be available in blood donor centres in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Plymouth
• Book aims to inspire children and parents to speak about blood donation and the urgent need for more Black heritage blood donors
• Award-winning CBeebies author brings Sydenham schoolgirl’s experiences to life

A London schoolgirl’s experience of living with sickle cell has been immortalised in a children’s book commissioned by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and given free to all Brixton primary schools during Sickle Cell Awareness Month (September 2025).

My Blood, Your Blood is inspired by the real-life experience of Sydenham youngster Angel Salami, who was diagnosed with sickle cell disorder when she was a baby.

In the book, Angel, now 13, and her dad Kehinde, who also lives with the disease, chart the impact sickle cell had on Angel as a four-year-old – the same age as the reception pupils who will receive the book.

It also celebrates the Black heritage blood donors without whom Angel wouldn’t be able to attend school, play with her friends, or live as normal a life as possible.

Written by award-winning children’s author and educationalist Laura Henry-Allain MBE, who created JoJo and Gran Gran, the globally respected children’s animation on BBC’s, CBeebies channel, her latest book, My Blood, Your Blood, is a positive, uplifting, and accessible story that helps demystify sickle cell disease.

Designed to be enjoyed by children and adults reading together, the NHSBT-commissioned book provides a fun and friendly way for families to learn more about the life-changing impact of blood donation.

NHSBT hopes the book will also spark conversations in the home, community and classroom about the condition and the vital role blood donations – especially from Black heritage communities – play in combating the condition.

There is an urgent need for more people of Black heritage to become blood donors to help the nearly 18,000 people like Angel and her dad who live with the condition – the UK’s fastest-growing inherited blood disorder, with 300 babies born with the condition every year.

Sickle cell is more prevalent in people of Black heritage, and donors of African, Caribbean or mixed ethnic backgrounds are ten times more likely than the white population to have the specific Ro blood subtype needed to treat the life-long disease.

This year, NHSBT needs to recruit an additional 16,000 Black heritage blood donors to meet the growing sickle cell need and add to the approximately 20,000 Black heritage blood donors already giving the gift of life.

Angel Salami said: “I feel really good that the book is based on me, as people can learn what it is like to live with sickle cell and maybe be inspired by me. I feel it pushes people to learn more about uncommon blood disorders like sickle cell and the people that live with them. It shows them they are recognised.

“I hope the book makes more people want to give blood donations and learn more about sickle cell from a young age.”

Kehinde Salami said: “For too long, people with the condition have had to fight to be heard and get the treatment needed. Hopefully, education through schools and at a young age will help break down some of the myths and improve the lives of people growing up with the condition, now and in the future.

“It is imperative more people from the Black heritage community understand how they can help people with sickle cell by donating blood. I know so many patients with sickle cell who have needed blood transfusions – their lives literally depend on donations coming from within the community. So, the more people donating, the more people can be helped.”

NHSBT Director of Donor Experience Mark Chambers said: “A sickle cell patient may need up to 100 units of blood a year to manage the condition, so recruiting greater numbers of Black heritage donors is vital to meet the growing sickle cell need.

“My Blood, Your Blood is an uplifting story of the power of community, and the huge difference blood donation makes to people every day.

“Angel’s story is representative of thousands of other people who live with sickle cell in the UK, and that’s why we urgently need more people of Black heritage to become blood donors.

“By normalising conversations around blood donation in the home and in our communities, we want My Blood, Your Blood to inspire adults reading the book with their children to register to donate – as well as the next generation of donors.

“Giving blood is quick and easy and only takes around an hour of your time. To become a blood donor, download the NHSBT app, visit: Blood.co.uk or call: 0300 123 23 23.”

Author Laura Henry-Allain MBE said: “Thirteen years ago, I was fortunate to receive ten units of blood provided by inspiring individuals who selflessly donated to help strangers like me. As a result, I am here today to write this inspirational and emotive book, My Blood, Your Blood.

“It was a pleasure to work with Angel, her family and NHS Blood and Transplant in raising awareness of sickle cell and blood donation. As a writer, this has been one of the most special projects that I have been asked to work on.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

For additional information contact Garfield Myrie in the NHSBT press office on 07553 520 752, or email pressoffice@nhsbt.nhs.uk

• A limited supply of free copies of My Blood, Your Blood are also available at: Brixton Donor Centre, West End Donor Centre, Westfield Stratford City Donor Centre, Westfield Shepherd’s Bush Donor Centre, Bristol Donor Centre, Birmingham New Street Donor Centre, Manchester Plymouth Grove Donor Centre, Manchester Norfolk House Donor Centre and south London’s Akerman Health Centre.
• The book will also be available at libraries across Lambeth for lending: Brixton Library, Carnegie Library, Clapham Library, Minet Library.
• My Blood, Your Blood was written by Laura Henry-Allain MBE and Angel Salami and illustrated by Zenovia Grant.

About NHS Blood and Transplant

• NHS Blood and Transplant is a joint England and Wales Special Health Authority. We provide the blood donation service for England and the organ donation service for the UK. We also provide donated tissues, stem cells and cord blood. We are an essential part of the NHS, saving and improving lives through public donation.
• It is quick and easy to book an appointment to give blood. Call 0300 123 23 23 or visit blood.co.uk
• NHSBT has 26 permanent donor centres in:
  London (Brixton, Tooting, Edgware, West End, Shepherd’s Bush, Stratford and Twickenham), Manchester (Plymouth Grove and Norfolk House),
  Cambridge, Luton, Nottingham, Sheffield, Leicester, Bradford, Leeds, Newcastle, Lancaster, Liverpool, Stoke, Birmingham, Bristol, Gloucester, Oxford, Southampton, Poole and Plymouth.
  Our mobile teams also collect blood at community venues such as church halls around the country.
• NHS Blood and Transplant needs to collect 1.45 million units of blood each year to meet the needs of patients across England.
• There are four main blood groups – O, A, B and AB. O negative (the universal blood group) and B negative are particularly vulnerable to shortfalls. So, we want people with those blood groups to donate as regularly as they can.
• The NHS needs up to 200,000 new blood donors each year to replace those who stop donating and to ensure we have the right mix of blood groups to match patient needs in the future.
• We urgently need more Black heritage donors as they are more likely to have the blood type needed to treat the increasing number of patients suffering from sickle cell disease.
• There is an urgent need for donors with Ro blood. Only 2% of our donors have Ro type blood. Collecting enough is a constant challenge. Ro is often used to treat people with the rare blood disorder, sickle cell disease. Ro blood is ten times more common in Black heritage people than the white population.

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