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Toddler with cancer goes home after 5 people matched her rare blood

Zainab Mughal captured hearts worldwide late last year: A desperate plea for rare blood was sent out to help save the little girl battling cancer.

MIAMI — Her doctor calls her a "superhero." 

Zainab Mughal, a 3-year-old South Florida toddler who needed some of the rarest blood in the world, just underwent her second bone marrow transplant and several blood transfusions, according to a OneBlood news release.

She still has several more treatments to go, but Mughal is done with the most complicated and exhausting part of her cancer fight. She was released from the hospital Monday.

Previous: Some of the rarest blood in the world is needed to save a 2-year-old Florida girl

Her doctor at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital said the staff is optimistic Mughal is "on the road to recovery," though time will determine whether her cancer has been put into remission.

It's been quite a battle and an exhaustive search for donors.

The young girl garnered worldwide attention in December after a call out to find a type of extremely rare blood. Mughal is missing a common antigen, called "Indian B," that most people have. The matching donor also would have to be missing the antigen, plus have blood types "O" or "A."

Her parents were not compatible and statistically, the only people who were likely to be a match were exclusively of Iranian, Indian or Pakistani descent. 

Credit: Provided
Zainab Mughal

Related: A fifth donor has been found for Florida toddler with rare blood type

OneBlood, a Florida-based non-profit that provides blood to healthcare facilities primarily in the South, said it began round-the-clock testing to find a match. It examined more than 4,000 units of blood since and found five donors -- two people from the United States, two from the United Kingdom and one from Australia.

At this time, OneBlood said it no longer is searching for international donors but still tests blood units in its service area and those sent to it in the United States and Canada.

Doctors removed a cancerous tumor from Mughal in January and had her undergo two bone marrow transplants since. During each procedure, the unique blood was necessary to keep her alive.

"It takes a team of people to save a person’s life, but for Zainab it has been a worldwide effort," OneBlood said in the release.

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