Man travels 300 km to donate blood to child with rare blood group in Karnataka

A blood donor from Chikkamagaluru travelled over 300 km to Dharwad to donate a unit of blood to a three-year-old boy with the rare Bombay blood group, who was undergoing treatment for an inherited bleeding disorder at a private hospital.

The child, Abhinandan, was in a critical condition after severe bleeding caused his haemoglobin level to fall sharply. He urgently required a compatible unit of blood. Finding a suitable donor was challenging because the Bombay blood group (hh phenotype), an extremely rare blood type, is distinct from the usual ‘ABO’ blood groups, including ‘O’ positive and ‘O’ negative.

People with this phenotype lack the ‘H’ antigen on their red blood cells and generally cannot receive ordinary ‘O’-group blood; they require compatible blood, usually from another Bombay phenotype donor.

Following an appeal by the child’s father, Mahantesh, the Swami Vivekananda Blood Donors Foundation launched a search for a compatible donor. Its founder, Shivakumar Rattihalli, contacted Mahesh Kumar, a rare blood donor from Chikkamagaluru and explained the child’s condition.

Mr. Mahesh agreed to donate blood and travelled for over five hours to reach SDM Hospital in Dharwad, where, after completing the necessary procedures, he donated a unit of Bombay-group blood to the child.

The incident highlighted the importance of coordination among rare blood donors, as patients with the Bombay phenotype require specially matched blood and cannot generally receive blood from ordinary ‘O’-group donors.