SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio community had an overwhelming response to a call for blood donations for a 7-year-old boy battling cancer.
Dev Reddy was diagnosed in July with acute childhood leukemia and is in desperate need of blood, but the problem is -- his blood type is extremely rare.
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The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center organized a two-day blood drive, seeking donors who are O-negative, like Dev, and in two days, the STBTC collected 521 units of various types of blood.
Only about 7 percent of the population has O-negative blood, which is why the STBTC held the two-day drive in his honor.
"He can donate to anybody, but he can only receive that specific type of blood, and that's what makes it even more difficult, is that's only 7 percent of the population," Priya Gupta, a family friend, said.
Dev has used more than 330 blood products since his diagnosis, officials said.
See an interactive infographic about blood types -- who can donate to whom and which blood types are most rare:
**If you're having trouble viewing the infographic click here.