Boy, 9, Saved by Every Rare Blood Unit in UK

Qasim Rizwan woke up one morning with yellow eyes and skin, barely able to walk across a room without gasping for breath. Within days, doctors discovered the Bolton boy had autoimmune haemolytic anaemia, a rare disorder that was destroying his blood cells faster than his body could replace them.

Then they faced an even bigger challenge. Qasim's blood type was so rare that only about 50 donors in the entire UK shared it.

His blood includes r'r', a subtype within the Rhesus system found in roughly one in 10,000 people. When doctors at Manchester Children's Hospital realized the match they needed, they made an urgent call to the NHS Blood and Transplant national frozen blood bank in Liverpool.

Medical staff defrosted and rushed all six matching units from the frozen blood bank to Manchester. They located one more unit at a facility in Colindale. One of the units Qasim received had been donated when he was just eight days old, making it the exact same age as him.

Scientists even contacted a donor with the matching profile and asked for a fresh donation. Combined with steroids and other medication, the transfusions saved Qasim's life.

"I felt like I was going to die. I was really scared," Qasim said. "The doctors helped me so much. They were so kind to me and they calmed me down if I was sad or angry."

His mother Mahnaz Nazar watched her healthy, bike-riding son deteriorate in front of her eyes. "He was getting yellower, and he could not tolerate noise or light," she recalled. "It was terrifying because you don't know what was going on."

Why This Inspires

After three weeks in hospital, Qasim visited the frozen blood bank in Liverpool to meet the scientists who saved his life. He toured the facility wearing an oversized lab coat, asking detailed questions about every step of the process.

His mother has since become a blood donor herself. Qasim now feels "unique" knowing he has rare blood and understanding how many people worked behind the scenes to keep him alive.

"I feel like I have my daily routine and everything is back to normal," Qasim said. "My life has restarted."