Now Reading: Father-son rare blood donors inspire Chennai’s voluntary blood network
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Father-son rare blood donors inspire Chennai’s voluntary blood network
Shaikh Shamsudeen, 29, of George Town, has made 22 blood donations, all of his rare AB Negative type, following in the footsteps of his father Shaikh Sadaqathullah, who has 53 donations to…
The Story in Brief
Shaikh Shamsudeen, 29, of George Town, has made 22 blood donations, all of his rare AB Negative type, following in the footsteps of his father Shaikh Sadaqathullah, who has 53 donations to his name. The duo were honoured last month on World Blood Donors Day by Crescent Blood Donors at an event in Mylapore, with film director Ameer Sultan and Ahmed Buhari presenting the award.
Sadaqathullah began donating at Perambur Railway Hospital in 1993. Both father and son are registered with the Madras Voluntary Blood Bank (MVBB) in Gopalapuram, which calls them only in emergencies because AB Negative is rare. The Hindu reports Sadaqathullah has stopped donating due to health concerns. The story also lists eight organisations in Chennai, including MVBB and Rotary Blood Bank, where people can donate or seek blood.
The Indian Opinion
The story of this father-son duo quietly exposes a lazy narrative doing the rounds: that blood donation is the preserve of corporate camps and Instagram drives. Shamsudeen and Sadaqathullah show the real work happens through personal registers and a phone call away. The father stopped at 53, not for want of will, but because his body said so. That is the honest part of donation. The test is simple: how many of us, with a rare blood type, would answer the next MVBB call before the poster appears online? That number, not the tally of camps, is the real measure of Chennai's blood bank.
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
