In Richard Okorogheye's memory, he is being honoured with a blood donation drive

Richard Okorogheye and his mother Evidence Joel. Credit: Channel 4.

A blood donation drive has been created in memory of 19-year-old Richard Okorogheye, who had sickle cell disorder who was found dead in Epping Forest on the 5th of April.

Evidence Joel, Richard's mother is backing a blood donation drive that is honouring the life of Richard. The blood donation drive is called 'Bonded by Blood: A Mother’s Story'.

Richard was diagnosed with sickle cell disorder at only 8-months-old after a series of blood tests.

Evidence Joel shared her son's story with the Bonded by Blood campaign and discussed how beneficial these blood donations were for Richard. Ms Joel told Give Blood:

"Whenever he received the blood exchanges you would see an immediate improvement in his health" - Evidence Joel

The donation drive has been launched by a few Black health charities, which are: ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust), SickleKan and Unsickle My Cells (CIC).

The campaign is urging more people to step forward to donate blood. In the UK, there are currently 15,000 people with sickle cell, but it mostly impacts people of Black heritage.

The campaign is running between September and October, where you can donate blood at a series of blood donation sessions in Birmingham, Bristol, London and Manchester.

To donate blood, you can find out more here.