In absence of a blood bank, Mehran Sofi, a 25-year-old MBA student from North Kashmir’s Bandipora district has been instrumental in arranging blood for the needy patients.
The Blood Bank in the district has not been made functional, “despite thousand of surgeries being conducted per year.”
When the pandemic Covid-19 was at its peak in the North Kashmir’s Bandipora district, Sofi came up with the idea to help the patients by arranging blood in the time of crises.
Sofi, who has so far arranged blood for thousands of needy patients including expecting mothers told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that in 2020, he and his colleagues set up a WhatsApp group titled (SOS Bandipora) in which they communicate to arrange blood for the needy patients.
“We thought it is appropriate to come up with this idea. We were in daily contact with hospital sources who informed us which patient need blood during the surgeries so we can arrange the same,” he said, adding that since its inception they have arranged blood for thousands of needy patients.
“It was very difficult for us to manage the blood without wasting time but we never gave up,” Sofi said.
“I remember one day a person was crying and he called us saying that his sister desperately needed a blood point but we haven’t been getting it for the last two hours. Soon after, four of our young men gave blood,” Sofi said.
Sofi said that the blood bank should be made functional in district hospital at the earliest, so that people will breathe a sigh of relief—(KNO)