TODDLER Beth Heaton has met some of the people who kept her alive as she waited for a vital transplant.

Beth visited Southampton Blood Centre, where staff prepared all the blood products she needed during her illness last year.

Beth was accompanied by her father Stuart, who gave a blood donation.

The Heaton family, of Totton, are backing a campaign to encourage people to give blood during the pre-Christmas period, when stocks run low.

Nineteen-month-old Beth appears in a new National Blood Service (NBS) calendar that features people who owe their lives to blood transfusions.

She was born with aplastic anaemia and depended on regular transfusions of red blood cells and platelets - part of the clotting mechanism.

Beth was eventually given the all clear after a successful bone marrow transplant carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital a year ago.

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the five-hour operation that saved her life.

Mr Heaton said: "Beth's illness made us very aware of the great need for blood and platelets. I felt that giving blood during our visit to the Southampton Blood Centre was the most appropriate way of saying thank you."

The Heatons spent more than an hour at the centre, part of Southampton General Hospital.

A NBS spokesman said: "Our campaign aims to encourage people to give blood in the run up to Christmas and through to the new year. Blood stocks decline during this period because of the festivities. A large number of people with colds and flu also leads to a drop in donations."

Anyone wishing to become a blood donor can call the National Donor Helpline on 0845 771 1711 or visit the NBS website on www.blood.co.uk.