CHENNAI: DATRI Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry in association with Pro-Bikers is organising their second edition cycling rally, on July 18. The rally will start at 5 am from Ticel Bio Park, Taramani, to Mahabalipuram, covering a distance of 407 km.
The first edition of the rally saw 65 participants on a rainy day and this time, around 285 cyclists have already registered. Taking part are also two blood stem cell donors. These initiatives are to increase awareness on blood stem cell donation, calling out for more people to register as potential donors. At the end of the rally, the cyclists will take a pledge to donate their stem cells. Swap samples will be collected from the cyclists above 18 years of age and their genetic typing will be recorded in their database. The organissation has successfully completed 109 transplants and conducted 675 donor drives.
“It is an irony that for a country like India with a population over one billion, there are very few registered blood stem cell donors. With increasing cases of fatal blood disorders, there is an increasing need for more donors,” says Raghu Rajagopal, CEO and Co-founder of DATRI. “We are the largest blood stem cell donors registry in India having more than 93,000 registered donors. We have facilitated 106 blood stem cell donations for patients in India and across the world. There are still many more patients out there needing a genetically matched willing donor. ‘Cycle to Gift A Life’ will help in creating awareness on the importance of having more voluntary donors register with DATRI,” he adds. A cycle rally was chosen as Raghu believes that they are the ones who wants to be healthy and fit.
Raghu also hopes to make DATRI’s – ‘Cycle To Gift A Life’ a national event by taking this to other cities as well.
DATRI which means donor in Sanskrit, is India’s largest adult unrelated blood stem cell donors registry. Founded in 2009, It’s vision is to help every patient seeking a blood stem cell donor find a healthy, willing, genetically matched donor. It has more than 93000 registered voluntary donors, has facilitated 106 Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) donations, works with 11 collection centers and has serviced 27 Transplant Centers including 6 hospitals abroad.
The event is aimed at educating the general public on blood stem cell donation and the need for more voluntary donors to save patients suffering from fatal blood disorders. It is open for public.
Individuals interested in participating can register by visiting DATRI’s Facebook page or emailing events@datriworld.org. Registration is free and will close on July 15