Thousands of people around the world have responded to the call for a rare blood type to help save a 2-year-old girl in Florida.
10News first reported earlier this month that Zainab has neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer. The girl's blood is missing a common antigen that most people have in their red blood cells. That antigen is called "Indian B" and a matching donor would need to also be missing that antigen and have blood types O or A.
The only people who are likely to be a match are exclusively of Iranian, Indian or Pakistani descent.
On Friday, OneBlood said so far it has tested more than 1,500 units of blood, but no additional compatible matches have been found. Donations are arriving daily and the lab team is doing around-the-clock testing.
"We have had a tremendous response from people and media around the world," OneBlood's Susan Forbes said. "It has become a blood banking, industry-wide effort to find the blood Zainab needs."
Forbes said more than 20,000 people around the world have contacted OneBlood about being potential donors. OneBlood said it is also working with the American Rare Donor Program to help connect the organization to those outside the country who are inquiring about donating.
"We remain hopeful additional donors that match Zainab will be discovered," Forbes said.
To learn more or find out if you're a match go to your local Oneblood donation center, which you can find by clicking here.
When you go to the donation center, you will need to specify that you're looking to donate to Zainab so the blood can be tagged and tested properly.
The way to do that is to tell the staff when you arrive that you would like to donate to Zainab. They will take a normal blood donation and send a small sample to their labs to find out. If you are not a match, your donated blood will go into their inventory to be used for others in need.
