Mumbai: Four units of the rare Bombay blood group was sent to Bangladeshi accident victim who was waiting to undergo a life-saving surgery in Dhaka on Saturday.
Four Mumbaikars’ donation helped save the life of Mohammed Kamruzzaman who needed blood for an urgent surgery to treat multiple fractures.
According to a Times of India report, the 25-year-old had met with a road accident in Dhaka on May 21 and was taken to the local Apollo Hospital for treatment. During the investigations, the doctors found that he had the rare Bombay blood group about which even leading blood banks in Bangladesh were unaware of.
In India, less than less than 400 people are known to have the Bombay blood group, of whom only few are easily accesible. A frantic online and offline search led them to Vinay Shetty of the city-based NGO, Think Foundation.
The four donors - Swapna Sawant, Krishnanand Kori, Mehul Bhelekar and Pravin Shinde - donated blood, which was collected by SK Tuhinur Alam, one of Kamruzzaman's colleagues, who reached Mumbai on Thursday to collect the precious units.
"We had given up hope that he will live. The bones of his left leg and hand are shattered. His pelvis too is broken. Doctors told us only surgery could guarantee his complete recovery," Alam told TOI on Friday .
"We searched up and down the city (Dhaka) and called up an uncountable number of hospitals and blood banks, but most had never heard of this blood group." he further added.
Shetty told media that it is not an easy task for the NGO to get multiple authorities to allow the export of blood. For this we need to take permission from the State Blood Transfusion Council, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, Directorate of Health Services and CISF that mans airport security as for export we need license.
He added, the blood units will be transported in a special plastic box with ice gel packs. "Blood has a long shelf life, of about six weeks. Temperature control is key."
