A BLOOD donor from Bolton has found out that he helped save the life of a Manchester Arena attack victim.

Just over two weeks before the terrorist attack on May 22, Earle Jackson, aged 49, had made one of his regular trips to donate blood.

In the aftermath of the bombing, at 3.54am on May 23, his O-negative blood was used to help save the life of someone who had been injured in the attack following the Ariana Grande concert.

Mr Jackson, of Somersby Drive, Bromley Cross, originally from Liverpool, was "flabbergasted" this week to discover his blood had saved a life about five hours after Salman Abedi had detonated his suicide bomb.

Mr Jackson said: "Wow. I'm quite flabbergasted really. You give thinking you will never know who it's gone to, and that's fine, but to know where it's been used and what for it makes me feel quite proud.

"To think it was used in something like a terrorist attack, it's really gobsmacking.

"I can't believe I may have helped someone after the Manchester attack.

"It makes it all the more poignant that I was at the rescheduled concert at Old Trafford Cricket Club. My partner got the tickets and it was an amazing experience, especially on my birthday.

"As a Scouser, I feel very humbled to have helped Mancunians especially after years of negative publicity between both North West cities."

Mr Jackson is a committed blood donor. He donates on his birthday and goes out of his way to make sure he can give the maximum number of times — every three months — even if it means travelling out of Bolton to Leigh.

His compulsion to help stems from the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989.

He was there on that day and a friend was among the 96 who died on April 15.

Mr Jackson said: "I was 21 I think. I was helping the people on the pitch and I was thinking 'am I doing it right? If only I knew how to do stuff'.

"That prompted me afterwards to do a first-aid course."

He is currently the first-aider at Rumworth School, Armadale Road, in Deane, and says he uses his first-aid training every day whether on a small cut or managing an epileptic seizure.

Mr Jackson made his donation before the attack on May 4 at the Last Drop Village Hotel & Spa in Bromley Cross.

He often takes pictures when he donates to post on social media and encourage his friends to do the same.

Mr Jackson says his next blood donation is in June at the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple in Deane Road and that donation will be his 65th.

When a person donates blood, their details are linked with the blood pack and are scanned by hospitals when they are used. Using the barcodes on the packs the NHS is able to keep track of where blood has come from and some donors, including Mr Jackson, receives texts to say their blood has been used and which region.

He remembers receiving a text a week after the attack telling him his had been used in Manchester but he said: "I didn't register the connection at the time."