A FORMER airline captain who lost his job when the pandemic hit is now collecting Covid convalescent plasma.

Nick Gifford, 52, from Leeds, had been working as an airline captain for 13 years before the pandemic hit. He lost his job as flights were grounded across the world.

Father-of-two Nick is now training to collect convalescent plasma as NHS Blood and Transplant is calling for more people who have had coronavirus to donate convalescent plasma.

“Losing my job was massive blow – your world gets thrown into chaos. But I dusted myself off and put my attention into something new,” Nick said. “I tried my hand at all sorts: deliveries, Amazon driver and window cleaning.

“I saw NHSBT were recruiting people to help collect blood plasma donations from recovered COVID patients. It seemed like a good opportunity to give back and feel like you’re making a difference.”

COVID-19 convalescent plasma is collected at 23 donor centres around the country, including Bradford. Anyone who has had confirmed coronavirus or the symptoms can volunteer to donate plasma at nhsbt.nhs.uk.