One more blood request was catered! One more life was saved! The volunteers of Sankalp emergency wing had one more story to tell!
It was only yesterday, that a lady from Davanagere needed blood of the Bombay negative group. Nature acts in strange ways! Remove the Rh and H antigens from O positive blood- the most common group, and you'll have Bombay negative group blood- the rarest blood group possible! The possibility of finding this group donor is one out of twenty five thousand, biologically! Practically, most don't know their blood groups- so finding a donor was no less than locating a pin in a football ground! The volunteers took it up as a fresh new challenge- something they had never faced before!
The volunteers collected the necessary details from the patient's husband, Ravi. The patient, Veeramma, had complexities with her fallopian tube and was bleeding continuously. Ravi had come to Bangalore in search of a donor when a doctor had suggested them to contact Sankalp India Foundation- a voluntary youth organization that works for the cause of blood. The volunteers were set to work immediately. They were scanning age-old databases, consulting doctors and blood bank officers. The best possible option was to find a donor in or around Davanagere and ask him to donate. Finally the volunteers were able to locate three donors in Bangalore. Two of them were unavailable. The third lady, Pramilla, was out of station!
Interestingly, once upon a time, Pramilla had complications during her pregnancy- that is when she realized how rare her blood was! Since then, years had passed, and she had been helping people around her by donating blood. Her husband had created an exhaustive database of these patients who obviously belonged to the Bombay negative blood group! Thankfully, he agreed to share the database with these young volunteers. Each person from the database was approached. Most contacts were unavailable. One of them, Yusuf, was in Chennai.
Meanwhile, Veeramma's condition was worsening and Ravi was getting restless. It was getting exponentially difficult for these volunteers to control the situation, especially when so much of trust was laid on them! The volunteers had come in touch with other organizations as well - but nothing helped. Finally, their 24 hours of continuous effort boiled down to two options- firstly, Yusuf had been convinced to donate in Chennai. Secondly, Pramilla had come to Kundapur (near Udupi) and agreed to come to a nearby blood bank to donate. The latter option seemed more feasible. The volunteers set off to make traveling arrangements for Ravi.
Within an hour, Ravi left in a bus, leaving behind the proud and smiling volunteers who shook hands and hugged each other as they walked back! One more blood request was catered! One more life was saved! The volunteers of Sankalp emergency wing had one more story to tell!
Note- Considering the interest of the patient and concerned people, the names of the characters have been changed.