An Australian FIFO worker is desperately fighting for his life in a Thai hospital.
James Lothian from Perth has been in intensive care at Chonburi Hospital since March after he was seriously injured in a car accident.
After five months of treatment, including multiple emergency surgeries on his stomach and liver, he developed a fatal infection and requires 1.7 liters of O-negative blood, which must come from at least three donors.
In Australia, only 9 percent of people have O-negative blood type, but in Thailand this is much less common, where it is only 0.3 percent of the population.
Mr Lothian’s family have appealed to all Australians travelling to or living in Thailand who have O-negative blood to donate if they can.
“After the accident they had to do surgery on his stomach, liver and other things,” his sister Stacey Lothian told the Western Australian.
‘They cut out pieces of his colon and put them back together.
‘That surgery was not successful and his tissue died. He had to undergo another surgery, but that was also unsuccessful.’
Australian man James Lothian (pictured) is desperately fighting for his life in a Thai hospital as he urgently needs donations of his rare blood type
Mr Lothian, 41, also recently developed sepsis, a life-threatening blood poisoning condition that requires an emergency blood transfusion.
“He also has an infection in the colon and now they can’t operate on him. They have to flush the infected blood out of his body and replace it with clean blood,” his sister said.
Doctors say they cannot operate until they have more donations of Lothian blood type.
His brother, who is also O-negative, donated blood in June but won’t be able to do so again until September. None of their three other siblings have the rare blood type.
Mr Lothian’s 65-year-old father, who is a match, flew to Thailand on Friday to donate blood, but at least two more people with O-negative blood will need to donate.
Mrs. Lothian, who is a GoFundMe for her brother, posted everything on Thai expat sites in an attempt to recruit donors.
“If anyone is traveling there who is O negative, please donate. I’ve cried because so many people have stepped up to help, but it’s such a rare blood type,” she said.
“It’s a bit scary how many Aussies go there on holiday. The fact that there’s no O-negative blood in Thailand is scary.”
Mr Lothian is on a break from work and visiting his wife and five-year-old son when he was involved in the terrible car accident in Chonburi.
James Lothian (pictured), a miner from Perth who is flown to hospital, has been in intensive care at Chonburi Hospital since March after being seriously injured in a car crash.
O negative is not only used for blood transfusions in people with that blood type, but is also regularly used in transfusions where a person’s blood type is unknown.
Speaking to the Telegraph Last year, Dr. Issrang Nuchprayoon, a professor at Chulalongkorn University and an advisor to the Thai Red Cross, said that there is often a shortage of O-negative blood in Thailand.
‘When people need (O-negative) blood, there is always the risk that we don’t have it.’
Australians travelling to Southeast Asia have been advised to know their blood type in case they need a blood transfusion there.