This Young Man Helps Maintain Uninterrupted Blood Supply During Pandemic
A professional blood donor since 2009, Dhirendra Thakur has been relentlessly donating and arranging blood for patients braving all odds. He has been instrumental in opening a blood donation unit ‘Lifeline Charitable Trust’ by bringing together a group of voluntary donors
The pandemic has overwhelmed the country’s healthcare system with the surging infections pushing it to the very brink. Among the many services which have been impacted by COVID 19 is blood transfusion. Blood banks are running dry as collection and donation activities have almost come to a standstill. Amid this crisis, there are some people who are like a ray of hope and have come forward to ease the suffering of people reeling under blood scarcity. Dhirendra Thakur is one among them.
A professional blood donor since 2009, Dhirendra has been relentlessly donating and arranging blood for patients braving all odds. He has been instrumental in opening a blood donation unit ‘Lifeline Charitable Trust’ by bringing together a group of voluntary donors to tide over the situation. The unit consists of 20 members who are active round-the-clock, amplifying requests for blood through social media as well as word of mouth.
Blood transfusion services (BTS) are a critical component of any hospital as it is required in all elective and urgent surgical interventions including treatment of trauma, obstetric cases, and several serious medical conditions like thalassemia and cancer. Therefore, maintaining uninterrupted blood supplies is an important public health concern during the pandemic.
“The pandemic has instilled a fear of hospitals in people because of which volunteers and other potential donors prefer not to go through the blood donation process in fear of contracting the coronavirus. This has led to a scarcity situation. Patients suffering from critical diseases like anaemia, thalassemia and cancer need blood regularly. But the pandemic has caused interruptions in their care. We can motivate and encourage volunteers but we cannot force them to donate,” Dhirendra told My City Links.
As the second covid wave sweeps across the country, social media platforms are abuzz with requests for blood. While these sites have helped in amplifying the requests and finding timely aid, the flood of covid-related messages and news on our timelines every day has left us feeling helpless. “Families go through intense mental trauma looking for a lead when they are already burdened with a lot of tension. So, to address this problem, I created a pool of blood donors and volunteers whose names, contact and blood group details have been stored. This makes it easy to distinguish the potential donors and reduces the burden of people in desperate need of blood,” said the young social worker.
After leaving his corporate job, Dhirendra started the Lifeline Charitable Trust with only a virtual existence on social media platform WhatsApp. Now, it has garnered more than 2,500 members who have been tasked with arranging and donating blood to needy families. Besides, Dhirendra also works for cancer patients in rural belts of Odisha.
Felicitated several times for his work, Dhirendra has earned a familiar name in different health institutions across the State. His fame is such that doctors themselves rely upon him and call him directly whenever they are in need of blood. “Blood donation has now become more of a lifestyle for me. When I was 18 years old, I was approached to donate blood for a patient who had travelled a long distance to reach Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar. After this, I donated blood a few more times and realised that this gave me fulfillment. I felt happy doing it. Due to my frequent visits to donate blood, I became popular in blood banks. As days passed by, I decided to dedicate my life to this cause. There is no turning back for sure,” he said.
According to Dhirendra, a lot still needs to be done to educate people about the need to donate blood. With the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) recently issuing an order stating that a person cannot donate blood for 28 days after taking the last dose of covid vaccine, the challenges have increased manifold. “India is not equipped to battle against scarcity of blood. People are petrified of visiting hospitals or blood donation camps. We do not have the resources or permission yet to start door-to-door blood collection. But we are trying our best to educate people and assure them that no infection or deterioration of health would occur because of it. Convincing people is a difficult task,” he informed.
The Lifeline Charitable Trust can be reached on +91 9692300009 for any blood requirement.
Author: Aafreen Firdaus
Aafreen is a doting mother to several kitties and a doggo who loves to pamper everyone with delicious food. She is a free spirit and a wizard of words and she loves to tell beautiful stories through her writing. She is also a loving and caring soul, always ready to pitch in with a helping hand and a smile on her face.
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