Present right after a call

Than Ngoc Trong (born in 1980), who resides in Tang Tien commune (Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province), is a familiar face in a ceremony to honor outstanding blood donors at all levels. He is one of the few people with the rare blood type in the locality. He is also the Chairman of the provincial Rare Blood Type Club. Over the past 10 years, he has made 23 planned blood donations, while the number of emergency blood donations cannot be counted.

People with the rare blood type should join rare blood clubs to share with the community and help themselves.

He shared: “Whenever I received information from hospitals about any emergency case with the rare blood type, I was present immediately. I think there is a small number of people with the rare blood type and only people with the same blood type as me can save each other, so if my health is good, I try to help".

For N.T.Y in Bac Giang city, perhaps she will never forget the day when a friend working at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion announced that she had the rare blood type. In 1999, when the concept of rare blood was still quite new, Y was very shocked and thought she had a disease. After being explained by her friends working in the medical sector and then studying books and newspapers, she thought positively. Not only taking care of herself, Y is also an active member of the Bac Giang Rare Blood Type Club with 25 blood donations, 10 of which were emergency ones.

Although they have different circumstances and jobs or live hundreds of kilometers away, when they know someone in need, they are present in the hope of saving the needy.

Connection to share

Chu Thi Thuy, chief technician at the Department of Hematology – Transfusion Blood (the provincial General Hospital), said that each person is characterized with one blood type. There are four blood types: A, B, O and AB; each of these types will have Rhesus (Rh) antigens consisting of Rh+ or Rh-. In Vietnam, the Rh- blood type is very rare, seen in only 0.04 percent to 0.07 percent of the population, so it is often called the rare blood type. 

Than Ngoc Trong, Chairman of the provincial Rare Blood Type Club, voluntarily donates blood.

“Patients in emergency situations needing blood transfusions often face difficulties, but those with the rare blood type are even more critical. Because currently, the provincial and district hospitals do not store the blood type with Rh antigens, the source from the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion is also very scarce”, Thuy added.

With the desire to connect those with the rare blood type to help each other and help themselves, the provincial Rare Blood Type Club was established in 2015. From 15 members initially, it now has 28 participants. Most information calling for blood donation is updated by the club management on Facebook and Zalo pages to help members quickly contact to save people in emergency.

Through the stories of those willing to share their drops of rare blood, we understand that developing the membership of the provincial Rare Blood Type Club is absolutely essential. While the proportion of people carrying the rare blood type is too small and there are not reserves, with the club members’ willingness to give their blood, those who are unlucky to be at risk will have the opportunity to be cured. Bidding farewell to the "silent heroes", we hope that the club will grow stronger and connect more people to share the drops of gratitude.

Tuong Vi

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