Representative image for donating blood
Credit: Reuters Photo
Ahmedabad: An extended family with 27 members here has donated nearly 1,400 units or 630 litres of blood over the last four decades.
Four of them are 'centurions' as they have donated blood more than 100 times, said family member Dr Maulin Patel.
Dr Patel, who is 44 years old, happens to be the youngest centurion blood donor in Gujarat.
Notably, National Voluntary Blood Donation Day was celebrated in the country on October 1.
In three generations of the Patel family, 16 persons have donated blood for more than 50 times, according to Dr Patel.
His father Ashok Patel (72) and mother Shakuntala (71) have donated blood 98 times.
"They went to the US and donated blood there just a week ago. In India, you can not donate blood after the age of 65 while there is no age bar in the US. They have decided to return to India only after finishing their century of blood donation," said Dr Maulin.
"It all started in February 1985 when my uncle Ramesh Patel, eldest of five siblings, attended an event where Sathya Sai Baba said "blood is liquid love, let's flow it in others." Impressed by the Baba's message, my uncle first organised a mega blood donation camp here the same year to help the Red Cross provide blood to thalassemia patients," said Dr Maulin.
This inspired other members of the family to become regular blood donors. They now organise a blood donation camp every three months at their home and invite relatives and friends.
76-year-old Ramesh Patel has donated blood 94 times. Due to the age bar and health issues, he stopped donating blood some years ago, said his nephew Maulin.
"We all 27 members have donated nearly 1,400 units of blood so far, which comes to nearly 630 litres as one unit usually contains 450 ml of blood," he said.
Other three centurian donors in the family are Ramesh Patel's daughter Dimple, son Amul and Ramesh Patel's brother Bharat Patel.
Mukesh Patel, chairman emeritus of the Ahmedabad Red Cross, hailed the extraordinary record of the Patel family.
The blood donation movement in India began in Ahmedabad in 1963, and some of its pioneers were Dr V G Mavlankar and Dr V K Vani, said Mukesh Patel, a renowned tax consultant.
"Over the years, people of the city joined in and kept the momentum alive. People started taking pride in blood donation. Ahmedabad city now boasts of the highest 130 centurian blood donors in India," he added.