The present study describes the clinical profile and ankyrin 1 (ANK1) mutation status of a Chinese family with hereditary spherocytosis (HS). A young male patient (proband) was diagnosed with HS after presenting with anaemia and jaundice. The Coombs test was negative and spherocytes were found in peripheral blood smears. Magnetic resonance imaging showed splenomegaly and splenic iron depositions. The red blood cell osmotic fragility test was positive. The eosin-5'-maleimide binding test showed reduced mean channel fluorescence. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a novel ANK1 mutation (c.4707G>A), resulting in a nonsense mutation (p.Trp1569*). The patient's father, paternal aunt and paternal grandmother exhibited comparable clinical symptoms and Sanger sequencing confirmed the same mutation in these family members. To the best of our knowledge, an HS pedigree with this novel ANK1 nonsense mutation has not been previously reported. At the same time, the unique clinical presentation of this pedigree helps our understanding of the heterogeneity of clinical manifestations of HS.