Woman with rare blood feels 'honoured' to donate

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.