Thao, born in 1991 in Hanoi, is a member of a club of people who have rare blood types. She said many other members of the club in the northern region wear necklaces similar to hers.

Tran Thi Phuong Thao and her daughter

If they have an accident, especially in localities where they don’t have many relatives and friends, the information on the necklace will help hospitals find suitable blood donors. As their blood types are very rare, blood is not always available at medical centers.

The International Society of Blood Transfusion has recognized 39 red blood cell group systems, of which ABO and Rh are the most important group systems for blood transfusion.

ABO has four blood groups, including A, B, AB and O. Rh has two kinds – Rh(D) positive and Rh(D) negative.

The blood type which accounts for less than 0.1 percent of population is considered ‘rare’ and less than 0.01 percent as ‘very rare'.

In Vietnam, Rh(D) negative accounts for 0.1 percent of the total population of 96 million.

Those with Rh(D) positive account for more than 99 percent of Vietnamese people.

Rh negative people face higher risks if they have an accident and need blood transfusion as hospitals don’t always store this rare blood type.

In an effort to mobilize blood for people with rare blood types for emergency cases, many people with Rh(D) blood type have connected with each other in clubs.

There are many rare blood clubs in Vietnam, including ones in the north, HCM City, the southeast, the central region and other cities and provinces.

The club of people with rare blood types in the north, established in 2007, now has more than 500 members from different cities and provinces in the region. It is estimated that 3,000 blood units are donated by members of the club.

Thao was a deputy chair of the club before she temporarily left to give birth to the first child. Her daughter is eight months old and she will only be able to donate blood again after four months.

Saving people

In the last eight years, the 29-year-old woman donated blood nine times, mostly in emergency cases, to save patients in critical condition.

Thao said the patient that she and other members of the club saved most recently was a middle-aged man who was B Rh(D) negative. The man was brought to Hospital 108 in a dangerous state with serious bleeding.

Informed about the case, Thao contacted other members of the club and rushed to the hospital.

The family members were in a panic as their father was diagnosed with liver cancer and it was difficult to find blood of the rare type. But they later calmed down after Thao and her friends came.

Their five units of blood were the ‘lifebuoy’ that saved the patient. He later recovered and gathered strength to receive further treatment.

Like Thao, Nguyen Thanh Tuan, born in 1982 in Yen Bai province, also has memories about how he helped save people. Tuan has O Rh(D) negative and has donated blood 10 times.

If they have an accident, especially in localities where they don’t have many relatives and friends, the information on the necklace will help hospitals find suitable blood donors. As their blood types are very rare, blood is not always available at medical centers.

Tuan received a call from Ba Khe Hospital when he was at his home, 40 kilometers from the hospital. He drove his motorbike to the hospital in the rain and donated 350 ml which helped the mother and her baby stay safe.

The happiness of blood donors

Tran Sach Minh, born in 1994 in Hanoi, also a member of the club, said he only donates blood to give in emergency cases.

Blood donations must be 84 days apart.

Minh discovered that he was B Rh(D) negative in 2013 when he was a second-year student at the Hanoi University of Transport and Communications.

To date, Minh has given blood 13 times, and doesn’t know who the recipients were.

He noted that other men and women caught buses from Quang Ninh and Nam Dinh to Hanoi to donate blood, and said that his devotion was small.

“I am happy as I can help people,” he said. 

Nguyen Lien

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