Husband donates blood a staggering 147 times in a decade to keep his wife alive

Wang Xiaoying was diagnosed with anaemia in 2003, after she collapsed in front of her husband, Xu Wenwu.

The condition, caused by an iron deficiency, means the body is unable to produce enough red blood cells.

It leaves sufferers feeling weak and unable to concentrate, and in Wang Xiaoying's case, it left her in need of regular blood transfusions.

In China people can pay for the procedure, but 45-year-old Xu Wenwu was unable to afford the cost.

But the law dictates that anybody who wants to have a free transfusion for themselves or their family, can do so, if they donate 800ml of blood to the blood bank at frequent intervals.

So, despite discovering that his own blood type was not a suitable match for his wife, the 38-year-old was still eligible to receive regular free supplies as long as her husband continued to donate blood.

Over the last 10 years, Xu Wenwu, from the city of Changchun in the north-eastern province of Jilin, has donated 147 times, to allow his wife to claim her free transfusions. 

The NHS advises that healthy men only give blood every 12 weeks, or four times a year, which would total just 40 transfusions over the course of a decade. 

In the U.S. donations can be made every 56 days.

Xu Wenwu said: 'I wish only one thing - that my wife might enjoy some good health with me before we end our days.

'We gave up on the possibility of children but at least then we had each other, but even that happiness has been deprived.

'When she started getting the transfusions we had a semblance of normality, but then she was diagnosed with myasthenia - a muscle wasting disease that leaves the sufferer incredibly weak and in her case bedridden.

'She can't even go to the bathroom unless I help her, and although I am electrician I have been fired 30 times now because when my wife calls and is having difficulty of course I have to go home to help her.' 

He said he would not give up, and was hoping against hope that there might still be some treatment for his wife that could give her back her health.

He said: 'The blood transfusions leave me very weak as well, and lacking in energy to do many things, but I will never give up hoping and trying to find a solution for us both to be happy and healthy together.' 

(dailymail.co.uk)