Rare stem cell donation helps save child's life

A young man with rare Rh-negative blood in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has donated his hematopoietic stem cells to save the life of a 12-year-old with a blood disease in Zhengzhou, Henan province. According to the Urumqi Red Cross Society's humanitarian affairs development center, the case marks the first successful donation of hematopoietic stem cells from a volunteer with Rh-negative blood in the autonomous region, Urumqi Evening News reported. Nur is also the 43rd donor of hematopoietic stem cells in Urumqi and the 184th in the autonomous region, the center said. Abulikemu Adili, vice-chairman of the Urumqi Red Cross Society, said the Xinjiang branch of the China Marrow Donor Program, a nonprofit organization that manages a national databank on volunteers, can store as many as 50,000 hematopoietic stem cell samples and has more than 11,000 volunteers from Urumqi in its registry.