4 US servicemen give rare blood to 3-year-old girl

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Thanks to four US servicemen, a three-year-old girl suffering from anemia got another lease on life.

The four — David Bombard of the US Marines, Jeff Simpson of the US Navy, and Michael Light and Robert Saiz, both of the US Army — donated the rare Rh (Rhesus) type of blood to Donneth Silo, who has been confined at the Zamboanga City Medical Center for the past week.

The girl’s guardians rushed her here from Barangay Kauswagan in Baliguian, Zamboanga del Norte after she was diagnosed with "respiratory distress."

Her attending pediatrician, Dr. Ben Jason Caranay, said she has been having fever on and off for the past three weeks as well as a cough for a week.

He added that the girl was diagnosed with respiratory distress and crackles in both lung fields and was grossly pale. 

When she was admitted, the girl was found to be suffering from anemia, typhoid fever, and pneumonia, he added.

Caranay said they had been looking for donors for the past week with Rh type of blood since Donneth is Rh negative.

Although Rh negative is found mostly among Caucasians, the percentage is very low or rare, he said. 

"Most Filipinos and other Asians are Rh positive," he added.

Donneth’s guardians — her aunt Rosary and uncle Joe — are thankful to the four American servicemen and Dr. Pat O’Neil of the US Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) who immediately responded to the request for blood donation.

Frank Weston Thompson of the JSOTF’s medical team accompanied the four US military personnel when they each gave 450 cc of A- blood.

Donneth’s parents — Ralph Deconti of Pennsylvania, USA and Hilda Silo — are now separated.

"We were just waiting for the blood because if we could not secure A- blood, we would not stay longer in Zamboanga," Rosary Silo said.

Had Donneth’s guardians insisted on discharging the child against their advice, Caranay said she could have suffered worse complications and an enlarged heart. 

The girl was also found to have congenital esotropia, an eye disorder.