A woman with ultra-rare blood has said she feels “very special and honoured” to help sick patients, after learning she is considered a VIP donor by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). Mina Stoddart-Stones, 26, from Bridgwater, Somerset, is one of only nine donors in the UK with her blood type.
Her blood is U negative and N negative, missing antigens found in almost 100% of the UK population, and is also RO, a rare subtype vital for patients with sickle cell disease. Donations are frozen and can be stored for up to 30 years, used to prevent fatal reactions during pregnancy and treat inherited blood disorders.
Miss Stoddart-Stones, who works in education, is on the UK rare donor panel, which comprises about 0.01% of 800,000 donors. She receives priority appointments and has been called to donate for specific patients, with her blood sent as far as Portugal.
Joanne Mathews, manager of NHSBT’s National Frozen Blood Bank in Liverpool, described meeting Miss Stoddart-Stones as like meeting “royalty”. She said every donation is frozen due to its rarity, and the bank aims to keep at least ten units of each rare type.
Donations are used for patients with rare blood undergoing surgery or needing regular transfusions, and for women with rare blood during caesarean sections or to prevent haemolytic disease in newborns. In emergencies, patients receive O negative blood before rare blood is requested from the frozen bank.
