Lifelong Villa fan who had life-saving blood plasma treatment meets Jacob Ramsey

A young boy who received life-saving treatment made from plasma has met one of his Aston Villa heroes at a blood donation centre in Birmingham.

Luca Bradley, a huge Aston Villa fan, was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called Myasthenia Gravis at 10 years old.

His body began attacking its own nerve cells, stopping them sending messages to his muscles, which can put your breathing at risk and potentially cause permanent mobility damage.

Luca had 3 infusions of immunoglobulin - which is given from a bottle attached to a drip – at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 2021.

His mum Sophie Bradley said: "After the immunoglobulin, he would come out and it was literally like he was brand new.

"It was like giving him kryptonite that destroyed the illness. He would be running around playing football immediately. It was a like a new lease of life each time.”

A long term solution was needed for Luca however as his illness was very aggressive and would return. He had his thymus gland removed and now is back to living a relatively normal life.

Staff at the Birmingham Plasma Unit invited Luca today (21 February) to learn more about how they help people like him.

And to Luca's joy, he met Aston Villa star Jacob Ramsey during his trip.

After meeting the midfielder, Luca said it was "amazing" as "I've got a season ticket and I go to literally every home game."

"It's great to see Luca and his family smile" - Jacob Ramsey

Jacob Ramsey said it was "great to see Luca and his family smile."

He continued: "It's my job to perform on the football pitch but off it, if I can see Luca's family or other families and put a smile on their faces, that gives me joy."

He also said he will be looking into becoming a plasma donor after meeting Luca.

Sophie Bradley told ITV News Central: "The benefit of plasma donation and the benefits that it does, just completely outweigh the pain of having a needle for five seconds.

"My husband donates, I shall be. I couldn't ask more to give people to give up a little time to help others...it's incredible."

Jackie Cashmore, a healthcare assistant at the Birmingham Unit, said: "It's lovely because we're collecting plasma all the time here and when we see someone that we've able to save someone's life it makes it all worthwhile."

The Birmingham Plasma Donor Centre says they are looking for 1,000 new donors and want to remind anyone interested can visit this website.