A Somerset woman who earned “VIP” status due to her extraordinarily rare blood has said she is “honoured” to help sick patients.
Mina Stoddart-Stones, 26, earned the status with NHS Blood and Transplant, placing her among an elite group of just nine donors nationwide who share her unique blood type.
Ms Stoddart-Stones, from Bridgwater, possesses U-negative and N-negative blood, a combination so uncommon that each of her donations can be preserved in frozen storage for up to three decades.
The education worker sits on NHSBT’s UK rare donor panel, representing roughly 0.01 per cent of the nation’s 800,000 blood donors — approximately 1,200 individuals in total.
“It makes me feel very special and honoured, actually, that I could help someone that is really poorly,” Ms Stoddart-Stones said.
Her contributions assist patients across Britain and have even reached Portugal.
Ms Stoddart-Stones lacks the antigens—proteins on red blood cell surfaces that serve as markers—present in nearly the entire UK population.
Her blood also carries the RO subtype, a particularly valuable classification commonly found among individuals of black African or Caribbean heritage.
Mina Stoddart-Stones, who has earned ‘VIP’ status due to her extraordinarily rare blood, said she is ‘honoured’ to help sick patients
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PA
This distinctive combination makes her donations essential for treating patients with inherited blood disorders, particularly sickle cell disease, which requires regular transfusions.
Her blood proves equally critical in obstetric emergencies, helping prevent potentially fatal reactions during pregnancy when a mother’s rare blood type differs from her unborn child’s.
When red cell markers cross the placenta, they can trigger haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn, a serious condition causing severe anaemia in babies.
Doctors can perform intrauterine transfusions through the umbilical cord artery to address such cases.
‘It makes me feel very special and honoured, actually, that I could help someone that is really poorly,’ Mina Stoddart-Stones said
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PA
Joanne Mathews, manager of NHSBT’s National Frozen Blood Bank in Liverpool, described encountering Ms Stoddart-Stones as akin to meeting royalty.
“Every time she donates, which is every time she can, we look for it and we freeze it,” Ms Mathews explained.
“We know her name, and we will only let her blood go for patients with that exact type, because it is so rare.”
The Liverpool facility—Britain’s sole frozen blood bank—currently holds 12 units from Miss Stoddart-Stones among its total stock of just over 1,000 rare blood units.
Staff aim to maintain at least 10 donations of each type, though they preserve every contribution from exceptionally rare donors regardless of existing supplies.
Ms Mathews noted that demand for RO blood increases by 10-15 per cent annually, creating mounting pressure on limited stocks.
Ms Stoddart-Stones, who was born in America and adopted as an infant, draws motivation from personal experience with the health service.
Illness during her early years and her father’s cancer treatment instilled a profound sense of gratitude towards the NHS.
“It’s just that sense of giving back,” she said. “How can I give back to the NHS when they’re going through hard times, especially at the moment, and during Covid as well?”
Beyond blood donation, she has registered as a potential stem cell donor.
The 26-year-old encouraged fellow Britons to consider giving blood, emphasising the minimal time commitment involved.
“I think it is really important to support the NHS, even if it is that half an hour,” she told PA. “It doesn’t really take much out of our day and we get a biscuit at the end of it.”