Terengganu Woman Is Among 43 People In The World With Rare 'Golden Blood' Type
Her donated blood will be stored at the National Blood Centre up to 10 years for potential life-saving use.
By May Vin Ang — 30 Nov 2021, 11:29 AM
Terengganu Blood Bank Services has introduced a local woman as one of only 43 people in the world to have the rarest blood type
According to a Facebook post by the state blood bank, the woman has Rh null blood, dubbed 'The Golden Blood', and is also the only living Malaysian right now to have the blood type in the country.
"This donor's blood group is Rh null, the rarest blood type in the world," reads the post.
"You are the special one, sis!" they added.
The woman went to their centre last week to donate some blood
The blood bank said that the donated blood will be sent to the National Blood Centre in Kuala Lumpur, where it will be stored in a nitrogen-filled container at -80ºC for up to 10 years.
"If there is a patient who needs this type of blood, then this blood will be diluted for use," they said.
In general, people have one of the four ABO blood phenotypes (blood type A, B, O, or AB) and are Rhesus D (Rh-D) positive or negative
According to MedicineNet, a Rh-D negative person only lacks the Rh-D antigen, whereas people with the rare Rh null blood type have a total absence of all Rh antigens on their red blood cells.
This rare blood group was first discovered in an Aboriginal Australian woman in 1961.
Conversely, Rh null blood is not so good for the people who have it. If they ever need a blood transfusion, they have to rely on an incredibly scarce supply of donated Rh null blood.
People with 'golden blood' usually donate their blood to prevent shortages of these precious units around the world and are frozen for future potential life-saving use.
