A woman whose blood donations are so rare they are frozen for up to 30 years said she feels « very special and honoured » to be able to help sick patients.
Mina Stoddart-Stones, from Bridgwater in Somerset, has been giving blood for years, but only recently realised she is considered a « VIP » to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).
There are only nine donors in the UK with the same blood as the 26-year old, which is U negative and N negative, meaning she is missing the antigens found in almost 100% of people in the UK.
Stoddart-Stones said: « It makes me feel very special and honoured, actually, that I could help someone that is really poorly. »
Stoddart-Stones is on NHSBT’s UK rare donor panel, which comprises about 0.01% of 800,000 blood donors, or about 1,200 people.
Her blood is also RO, a rare and vital subtype often found in people with black African or Caribbean descent.
Joanne Mathews, manager of NHSBT’s National Frozen Blood Bank in Liverpool, said that meeting Miss Stoddart-Stones was like meeting « royalty ».
« We know her name, and we will only let her blood go for patients with that exact type, because it is so rare, » Mathews added.
Units from people with rare blood like Stoddart-Stones are used for patients with the same rare blood who are having an operation or need regular transfusions because of disorders such as sickle cell disease.
Stoddart-Stones, who is also on the stem cell register, said she wants to help the health service after being poorly as a baby and after her father was treated for cancer.
« That little little bit that I can do helping them as much as they’ve helped my family, » she said.
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