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India: More senior citizens donating blood, as Covid keeps away regular donors

Bangalore - Blood banks running dry due to the pandemic

Published: Fri 18 Jun 2021, 8:09 AM

Updated: Fri 18 Jun 2021, 8:26 AM

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  • Web report

Ideally, a person can make four whole blood donations in a year, keeping a three-month gap between each donation. But there are times, such as the current Covid crisis, when demand for blood soars and there are few donors.

But Bangalore has seen many senior citizens come forward and offer their blood in emergencies several times over the past few months. One such person is Bhoopendran, a 61-year-old businessman, who along with his wife Sujatha, has been donating blood every fortnight.

“Due to the pandemic, there was a scarcity of donors at blood banks because no one was ready to step out and donate blood,” Bhoopendran told a newspaper.

“I have donated blood even before waiting for the advised 15-day period when there have been emergencies.”

Since last year he has donated 35 single donor platelets and recently completed his 200th blood donation.

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Another person to have completed more than 200 blood donations is Chandrakantha Acharya, 56, who works with the defence ministry in Bangalore. He just completed his 208th donation. He began donating blood when he was 20 and in college. Acharya recalled an occasion when he donated blood to a five-year-old cancer patient who had to undergo emergency surgery.

Four years later he met her and she was healthy. “When she thanked me for saving her life, my wife was in tears,” he said.

“Whenever there is an occasion in our family, we celebrate it by donating blood.”

AFP

AFP



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