“I still remember the day vividly like it happened yesterday. It was September 21st in the year 2007. I was working in Reliance digital and I was giving a presentation when I received a call from someone stating that they were expecting me for the blood donation as the operation was in line with that. It was a wrong call so I stated that and the call got disconnected. Shortly after finishing my presentation, I rang up the number and came to know that it was an attender calling after a blood donor and they were still waiting on it. Within no time, I reached out to a close circle of mine and ensured that the attender received the blood they needed for the surgery.
But this was just the beginning. I came to know that there was an entire world hidden here and still, millions of people continued to not get the help they required in their most crucial moments. I set up a group in my own organisation and encouraged all the employees to come forward for blood donation. I was able to create an entire database with this and I proceeded to verify and arrange for blood donors as and when the requirements came through. Shortly, the news spread around and I was able to reach out to the HR to access the employees from all the branches of my company.
Despite being the forerunner for this initiative, I couldn’t donate my own blood due to an unfortunate accident in my former years for which I still take medications. But the initiative grew by leaps and bounds and I became privy to all the other aspects of blood donation which includes platelet donation and also bone marrow donation. I started an official whatsapp group called the ‘Platelet club’ in the year of 2014. This was a step ahead to ensure that people who had a dire need for platelets were able to receive them in their due time. I started speaking about this in a lot of forums and started to encourage people to come forward to donate platelets. The important thing to note here is that, platelet donation usually takes more time than blood donation so when people hear the word platelets, they just move away citing that they don’t have much time. But it is a very crucial requirement for adults and kids battling cancer and also people with dengue.
With the help of all the volunteers who were actively working on this, we were able to register the NGO as the ‘Platelet Club’ in the year of 2018. Till date we have arranged for donations for several thousands of people all over India. Anytime I save a new contact on my phone, I always add the blood group and the location of the person. One of the biggest achievements that I would say that I have accomplished is to be the first name to flash in the minds of the people when they are in need of a donor. I have earned this place and my mission will continue for all the years to come.”
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