Nine-year-old boy recovers after receiving rare blood transfusions

Qasim Rizwan, a nine-year-old boy from Bolton, has recovered from autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) after receiving rare blood transfusions. AIHA is a disorder where the immune system destroys red blood cells, affecting approximately 1,200 people annually in the UK.

Doctors at Manchester Children’s Hospital initially faced difficulties matching Qasim’s blood type. Scientists at NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) eventually identified him as having a rare blood mix, including the r’r’ subtype of the Rhesus system. This specific subtype is shared by only about one in 10,000 people, with only around 50 known donors in the country.

To treat the condition, NHSBT staff urgently defrosted and dispatched all six matching units from the national frozen blood bank in Liverpool, along with an additional unit from Colindale. One donated unit was notably the same age as Qasim, having been donated when the donor was only eight days old. Following the transfusions and medical treatment, Qasim expressed that his “life has restarted.”