Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Young Florida Girl With 'World's Rarest Blood' Is Now In Remission Following Global Search For Donors

Young Florida Girl With 'World's Rarest Blood' Is Now In Remission Following Global Search For Donors
Zainab Mughal, during and after her cancer treatment (OneBlood)

People were stepping up to donate blood for young girl whose cancer diagnosis sparked a global hunt for “some of the rarest blood in the world." Now, she is in remission.


Zainab Mughal was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer, when she was two. As part of her treatment she needed a series of blood transfusions.

But the search for donors proved far more difficult than usual because she is missing an antigen, called Indian B, which most people have in their red blood cells.

Any blood containing the antigen would be rejected by her body.

It meant the hunt had to be confined to a very specific population, people whose two birth parents are both 100% of Pakistani, Indian, or Iranian origin. Even within that population, only 4% of people have the unusual genetic variation, according to OneBlood, the Florida-based charity that is leading the search.

On top of that, donors needed to have type O or A blood.

It was described by OneBlood as “some of the rarest blood in the world" and, while three compatible donors were quickly found, more were needed because of the number of transfusions Mughal required in the course of her treatment.

OneBlood posted about Mughal's story on Facebook, requesting for donors to come forward, in December 2018, and in the following days, more than 25,000 people came forward, leading to over 4,000 units of blood being tested.

Zainab Mughal celebrates her birthdayZainab Mughal is in remission after a global search for blood donors (OneBlood)

Ultimately the search unearthed another two matches, completing a pool of five donors, two from the United States, two from the UK, and one from Australia.

Each of the five donated repeatedly over the course of Zainab's treatment, with the blood shipped to OneBlood so it was available for Zainab when needed.

“These five donors played a significant role in saving Zainab's life," a statement from OneBlood read.

“Over the course of her treatment, Zainab received more than a dozen blood and platelet transfusions. Doctors say it would not have been possible for her to have endured the chemotherapy, surgery, and two bone marrow transplants without the blood."

Mughal recently celebrated her fourth birthday, and is now in remission and her parents are optimistic for the future.

“For those five donors, they are surely a life saver for us," Mughal's father Raheel Mughal said.

“They have given our daughter a new life and we are very thankful to them. Our best hope is that the cancer never relapses and we're very optimistic that it will not come back. We're very much looking forward to having a very normal life."

People were excited to donate since the beginning.


People were even inspired to look into their family history.


OneBlood said Zainab's case highlights the need for a diverse blood supply.

“There are many other patients, just like Zainab who have extraordinarily rare blood needs," spokeswoman Susan Forbes said.

“Finding compatible blood for these patients comes down to genetics. The only way to find specially matched blood for these patients is to increase the diversity of the donor population."

More from News

Sarah Jessica Parker
Marc Piasecki/WireImage

Sarah Jessica Parker Claps Back At Conservative Critics Who Want Her To 'Shut Up' About Politics And 'Act'

Nothing seems to get conservatives' goats quite like celebrities having political opinions—well, liberal and leftist celebrities, anyway.

They seem to love it when weird right-wing celebs like Kevin Sorbo get on the internet and say bizarre, usually counterfactual nonsense, or when JK Rowling does her darnedest to make her legacy not about Harry Potter but about her weird obsession with trans people.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ann Coulter
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Ann Coulter Faces Fierce Backlash After Saying 'We Didn't Kill Enough Indians' In Deleted Post

Far-right provocateur Ann Coulter is facing fierce criticism after she made a genocidal remark in a now-deleted post on X in response to University of Minnesota professor and Navajo Nation member Melanie Yazzie's speech about colonization.

Yazzie, in a speech at last year's annual Socialism Conference, said "decolonization is the only thing that is going to save us as a species" during a panel hosted by Red Nation, a Native American nonprofit that advocates for Palestinian and Native American rights. She also said that the United States is the "greatest predator empire that has ever existed" and said it should be dismantled.

Keep ReadingShow less
James Gunn
Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage

James Gunn Bluntly Fires Back At 'Jerks' Who Criticize Superman's Pro-Immigrant Themes

Superman director James Gunn issued a response to the "jerks" who criticize the political themes inherent to the superhero's story, expressing his hope that seeing the movie will "make people a little nicer."

Speaking with The Times of London, Gunn stressed that the story of Superman is more relevant than ever considering the ongoing political turmoil in the United States largely centered around the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

Keep ReadingShow less

Things People Do In Relationships That Seem Sweet But Are Actually Toxic

Content Warning: Controlling and Toxic Relationship Behaviors

We've all either been involved in or witnessed a relationship where we saw something that we thought was cute or sweet at first, but we eventually found the behavior to be troubling or "too much."

Keep ReadingShow less
A piggy bank surrounded by loose change.
coin bank

'Poor Person Habits' People Won't Give Up No Matter How Rich They Get

When money is tight, we look for every possible way to avoid spending it.

As much as we might find ourselves missing out on some of the nicer things life has to offer, we find ourselves contented by the fact that we will always have enough money in our bank accounts to pay our bills on time.

Keep ReadingShow less