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By Rajkamal Rao
Go back to India Live!
This is a topic dear to my heart and I applaud the kindness and generosity of Indians.
When my father was suffering from terminal cancer (he passed away in June 2012), the last four weeks were absolute hell for him and everyone around providing care. He needed blood and platelet transfusions initially about every 4 days; later practically each day. The hospital arranged for donor blood the first couple of times. But when my father's demands for blood became more routine, the hospital told us that we had to arrange for our own blood.
There was a second complication. The hospital refused to accept blood drawn at another hospital and stored. The donor had to physically visit the hospital's blood bank, give away 3 hours of his time for blood donation and 4 hours for platelets, and also undergo sensitive tests for AIDS and other STDs.
We turned to volunteer blood donation sites such as Lions Bloodline. We came away impressed with the philanthropic qualities of thousands of Indians. These are people who volunteer to share their mobile number and blood group on a public website, and even state when they last donated blood. [HIPAA supporters in the US - please note]. And better, they keep the site updated. Lastly, when you call total strangers, they listen with compassion, never ask any questions, drop their immediate plans and rush to the hospital to donate.
We never ran out of volunteer donors - complete strangers - and had a pipeline of donor volunteers ready. Some donors used to call me regularly to find out how my father was doing. We even had a donor giving blood at the bank when my father breathed his last.
The truth is that this story is played out in hundreds of hospitals every day. When you don't have the state-of-the-art technologies of an American Red Cross or its sophisticated marketing arm to seek donations (and blood), individual volunteers come to the task. In short, India works.
These are topics that are rarely covered in the Indian media, let alone western media. Our heartfelt gratitude to those who listened and donated. You know who you are. Thank you.
Go back to India Live!
This is a topic dear to my heart and I applaud the kindness and generosity of Indians.
When my father was suffering from terminal cancer (he passed away in June 2012), the last four weeks were absolute hell for him and everyone around providing care. He needed blood and platelet transfusions initially about every 4 days; later practically each day. The hospital arranged for donor blood the first couple of times. But when my father's demands for blood became more routine, the hospital told us that we had to arrange for our own blood.
There was a second complication. The hospital refused to accept blood drawn at another hospital and stored. The donor had to physically visit the hospital's blood bank, give away 3 hours of his time for blood donation and 4 hours for platelets, and also undergo sensitive tests for AIDS and other STDs.
We turned to volunteer blood donation sites such as Lions Bloodline. We came away impressed with the philanthropic qualities of thousands of Indians. These are people who volunteer to share their mobile number and blood group on a public website, and even state when they last donated blood. [HIPAA supporters in the US - please note]. And better, they keep the site updated. Lastly, when you call total strangers, they listen with compassion, never ask any questions, drop their immediate plans and rush to the hospital to donate.
We never ran out of volunteer donors - complete strangers - and had a pipeline of donor volunteers ready. Some donors used to call me regularly to find out how my father was doing. We even had a donor giving blood at the bank when my father breathed his last.
The truth is that this story is played out in hundreds of hospitals every day. When you don't have the state-of-the-art technologies of an American Red Cross or its sophisticated marketing arm to seek donations (and blood), individual volunteers come to the task. In short, India works.
These are topics that are rarely covered in the Indian media, let alone western media. Our heartfelt gratitude to those who listened and donated. You know who you are. Thank you.
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