22-06-2025
Taking the cue from Chiranjeevi
A diehard Chiranjeevi fan, Hemanth Kumar Sharma started donating blood after he turned 18 inspired by the actor. 'Audio cassettes featuring Chiranjeevi movies would have lines by the actor requesting people to donate blood and that is how I got started on donating blood as a small gesture to my idol,' says 33-year-old Hemanth, who was among those honoured at a World Blood Donor Day celebration in Chennai.
Hemanth works as a pujari in Sullurpeta, a small town bordering Tamil Nadu, and has built an army of volunteers by conducting blood donation camps under the banner of Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust. But what is more commendable about him is that he does not hesitate to travel to Chennai every time he is presented with a request from any of the groups to donate blood.
'It was Srivatsav Vema of Platelet Club who motivated me to start donating SDP or Single Donor Platelets and until today I have volunteered more than 40 times,' says Hemanth who has given blood more than 30 times.
Unlike regular blood donation, platelet donation is time-consuming.'This takes at least two hours. First they collect the sample, screen it and start the process for donation. One can donate SDP once in 15 to 30 days,' he says.
At his home town, Hemanth conducts SDP camps four times a year and he donates the collected SDPs to the Indian Red Cross Society.
Blood donors honoured at an event organised by the Department of Health and Family Welfare
More than 100 volunteers from across Tamil Nadu were honoured by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu at Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital, Omandurar Government Estate, to commemorate World Blood Donors Day observed on June 14. One of the eligibility criteria set by the Department was that the individual should have donated blood for a minimum of 50 times. From Chennai, 15 volunteers of the Platelet Club were honoured at the event.
'We have close to 40 people who have donated more than 50 times but we could gather only 15 of them in the short notice that we got,' says Srivatsav Vema, who runs the Platelet Club.
Donating blood is an unshakeable habit for many of them in the Club. Rohith Fernandes, for example, has donated blood 221 times; Karthik Natarajan 252 times; and Poorna Chandran 200 times. There are many others in the 100s club including Kishore Gupta (182), Muthukumarasamy R. (100), Suresh Kumar (112), R. Vallinayagam (110), Naresh E. (183) and Baskaran from Villupuram (160).
The blood donation camps organised by Srivatsav Vema and his team of donors are exclusively for government hospitals. A key feature of this club is they donate platelets that is used for those undergoing treatment for cancer, dengue and for transplantation surgery.
