Mum with only blood group of its kind in Britain on track to save 100 lives

A mum with the only blood group of its kind in Britain is on track to save 100 lives.

Donor Sue Olds, 52, is among just 110 people in the world who have type -D-, pronounced dash D dash - and 88 of those live in Japan.

Sue has made 46 donations so far and doctors have used these to keep dozens of people alive, including a baby.

The National Health Service’s Blood and Transplant organisation says that if she continues to donate throughout her life she will eventually have saved or improved the lives of 100 recipients.

NHS support worker Sue even has donations stored at the service’s national frozen blood bank in Liverpool, in case her ultra-rare type needs to be sent for use in emergencies across the globe.

Sue has made 46 donations so far and doctors have used these to keep dozens of people alive, including a baby (SWNS)

Sue Olds giving blood at the Penzance Leisure Centre in Cornwall (SWNS)

It also means that there are stocks available in case she ever needs a transfusion herself.

The mum-of-one, who began donating in 1994, knew she had a rare blood type but only discovered this year that she is unique in Britain.

Type -D- is a variant of the rhesus blood group system, which means her donations can be given to patients with almost any Rh-related types.

But if Sue or another person of her blood type is transfused with a different one they could suffer a potentially fatal reaction.

The National Health Service’s Blood and Transplant organisation says that if she continues to donate throughout her life she will eventually have saved or improved the lives of 100 recipients (SWNS)

The mum-of-one, who began donating in 1994, knew she had a rare blood type but only discovered this year that she is unique in Britain (SWNS)

While the NHS does have donors of other rare blood types, such as McLeod and Hy-, Sue’s characteristic sets her apart, and so she is determined to donate as often as possible.

Sue, from Penzance in Cornwall, said: “As soon as I finish one appointment I’ll be on the phone booking my next.

“It’s really nothing – just one hour of your day every four months.

“I know that it will be of benefit to people who have been in road traffic accidents or those who are giving birth, for example. It is something that I would encourage everyone to do.”

Type -D- is a variant of the rhesus blood group system, which means her donations can be given to patients with almost any Rh-related types (file pic) (Getty)

Two years ago medics needed to issue a baby with two units of blood over successive days and without the donations from Sue, the tiny patient might not have survived.

An NHSBT spokesman said: “What is crucial here is that for some of those patients Sue would have been their only possible donor.

“No other blood that we have in stock could have been used. For those patients with the same type, Sue is our sole current donor who can help them.

“No one else’s blood could be given to some recipients in need without the risk of inducing a potentially fatal transfusion reaction.”