A BRAVE Truro boy saved by a major emergency blood transfusion has received a prestigious award after inspiring 7,500 people to sign up to give blood.

Elliott Wills, 14, was presented with the Chris Parry award at Penair School’s annual prize day on Thursday (July 2).

Elliott lives with a blood disorder called spherocytosis, and was recovering from routine surgery last October when he suffered a burst main artery and haemorrhaged so much, doctors told his dad Phill to prepare for the worst.

A team of 20 medics battled for three hours to save Elliott, who lost seven litres of blood and required 23 units of blood products - - the equivalent of three times his body’s circulatory volume - potentially from 23 individual donors.

The plucky lad celebrated his birthday on June 29 - an occasion his family say he would not have lived to see without blood donors. “While Elliott was packing his hospital bag, someone out there was donating the blood that would save his life,” said Phill, 53. “Donors are heroes, and so are the NHS teams who get the blood from the donor’s arm into the veins of desperately ill patients.”

The NHS has revealed fewer people are donating critical blood types, including the vital O negative that saved Elliott’s life. Elliott has the rare B negative blood type; O negative can be given to anyone, and is used in trauma scenarios when a person’s blood type is not known or if a hospital does not have fast enough access to stocks of a patient’s blood type. However, NHS Blood and Transplant reveals the number of regular donors of O negative and B negative has dropped five per cent since 2020.

Elliott returned to school in April and is making good progress. He tires easily and needs to take extra care when playing sports, but the Manchester United fan is enjoying playing football with his friends once more.

During National Blood Week in June, Elliott travelled the UK to promote blood donation, even appearing on BBC Breakfast television, resulting in a spike in people signing up for the vital service. “Thank you, blood donors, for my gift of life,” he said. “I enjoyed a birthday I didn’t think I would have. If you are thinking of giving blood, please do.”

Elliott received his award from former rugby player Floyd Steadman OBE in memory of former Penair School student Chris Parry, who was killed while delivering humanitarian aid to Ukraine in 2023. The award is presented annually to a pupil who embodies Chris’ qualities of kindness and selfless determination to support others in need.

Headmaster James Davidson said: “It’s hard not to get emotional about Elliott’s story. He has shown amazing strength in sharing his story and turning his situation into a force for good. He should be an inspiration to every pupil in the school, and everyone in the community. What an incredibly brave young man – we are so proud to have him as part of our school.”