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As heartwarming today as it was when I first read it 20 years ago, except now I feel like an idiot for ever believing this story was real in the first place - hey waitaminnit, my heart isn't warmed AT ALL! ☹️

If they are non-identical twins, both with O- blood, then wouldn't the parents have O- blood as well? Let me guess, they were 16, so it was legal for the "little boy" to donate?

I'm wondering how traumatized is the kid? What's he thinking about how his parents chose his sister to live instead of him. Get him some counseling. Some kids can take a misunderstanding like that in stride, but some don't.

The sentiment of the brother willing to sacrifice is great and all. But shame shame shame on the medical staff for their abysmal communication skills, not making sure that boy knew EXACTLY what was going on. They suck, & he was needlessly tortured. Shame

Me too. Imagine thinking as a kid someone asked you to give up your life like that?? What Mum, Dad, do you love my sister and want her more than me?

Yes, exactly what I am feeling. And all those hours he thought he was going to die. And how easily he did it also doesn't feel right. It's a hole mess of emotions for me.

Of course it may be true. I’m gratified to have family who would at the very least consider this. You might be surprised to discover that your family would also be willing to think about it

This is why I give blood... for those who can't. There's a ton of things in this life that others do to help me, a bit of discomfort followed by cookies and orange juice seems like an easy thing. Lots of love 2 those little humans willing to give before they know blood donation won't be the end

Sorry this sounds like nonsense. Surgeons went into surgery on a child and didn’t have blood on hand? Even if this was an emergency I find it doubtful that they did not have O negative the universal donor

This story is almost certainly not true. Versions of it date back to inspiring stories at least 50 years ago and probably further back than that. Blood shortages, on the other hand, are real. Fewer and fewer people are donating blood worldwide and it's gotta come from somewhere.

That would only proof Jim is a fcking idiot and an unfit parent if he couldn’t explain to his kid what a transfusion was and had to wait until his kid was ready to literally die to realize he fcked up.

The sisters I despised (🙄) growing up are my most loved people beyond my daughters and sons-in-law and granddaughters. My twin granddaughters (and my twin grandnieces) would do this in a heartbeat. All my love to your family

That’s a very sweet story…clearly age of the patients would be helpful. Hopefully they are actually young children. OR! The schools are failing big time. The later is what the GOP needs, more knuckleheads for their cult.

All of you were taken in by a story that never happened. This *supposedly* was a young boy.. blood banks won't draw a unit of blood from a young boy. Not to mention that only one unit of blood won't "save a life". If someone needs only one unit of blood, they're not in danger of dying.

Not surprising, certainly seems made up. Like one of those big strong man with tears in his eyes trump likes to tell. Anyway, were it true, that doctor should never be allowed to explain anything to a child again.

"She needed O-blood. We didn't have any". Gosh. So like "Let's operate on this little girl right now" "Right now? Erm ok". "Get me some 0-blood" "Positive? Negative?" "Whatever" "Nah. Out of stock". "Here's her brother. Get his". "A child's? Maybe try the parents?". "Nope. Use the kid's 0-blood".

O positive (38%), A positive (34%), B positive (9%), O negative (7%), A negative (6%), B negative (2%), AB positive (3%), and AB negative (1%). This story is entirely believable. Your post leads me to believe that you do not understand the difference between O+ and O- blood types.

Come on? This isn't real, you are just click farming. I'm sure the nurses explained to him that he would not be harmed by giving blood. Maybe th God complex doctor misunderstood but not the nurses.

My question would be how is there no O blood type available and on standby? It’s universal if O+. And the parents would more than likely have the same type. Unless this is indeed a BS story that I never heard before.

I remember crying over that when I read it in ‘Chicken soup for the Soul’ almost 30 years ago. On an unrelated note, “can you believe that I have to report for a neuropsychological evaluation on Wednesday?” Manwomentvcamera. I no the answers.

COMPLETE BS!!! This FAKE religious crap. Get REAL stories. Any INTELIGENT person knows you do not die from a blood transfusion. Second there is type O blood available so NO need to do a direct transfusion. A REAL doctor would have talked to the child with facts. Sick, sad, duh?

Yeah, me too. About the lack of prepare from the doctors to the kid. The kid thought that his life was worth less than his sisters' and that everyone thoughy so too. I can't imagine the anxiety the kid had before and through the procedure. But hey, let's al be moved by his altruïsm #sarcasm

Cute post, but likely BS. Children under 16 don't typically give blood, this sounds like a little kid, so definetly too small to give. O is the most common blood type, easy to find. If the child has a particular blood type so does one of the parents. Makes more sense to take from the parent.

There's more to it. Reality is sloppy. To see a through-line, you need to ignore a lot of static. Stories lay it out like photons being organized by mirrors to strike as a laser beam. They can do the same to people: align our thoughts so we can perform mass actions and change the world.