HYDERABAD: Friends and family say he has given himself to help others. Raghavendra Kandiraju has quite literally devoted himself to help those in need with his time and blood. While most people don’t put themselves out so much, unless blood is required by someone dear, or if it is a special occasion like birthday or anniversary, this 29-year-old has been rolling up his sleeve for the last two and half years.
On December 23 last year Raghu, as he likes to be addressed, donated his blood for the 17th time – to a three-year-old girl who was undergoing a heart surgery at a hospital in Secundrabad.
Not a checkbook philanthrophist, Raghu decided to do his bit for the society by giving his blood – O negative. A relatively rare blood type, such people are universal donors but can receive only from O negative. The idea to donate blood struck Raghu randomly while he was retrospecting on life. “If something happens to me, what will my parents and wife do? This thought prompted me to think about the others like me. That was when I decided to donate blood,” recalls the quality analyst with a Intelenet Global Services.
Unlike others, this good samaritan does not head to a blood bank every eight weeks. Raghu uses Facebook to reach out to people. “Do you need O negative blood? Are you in dire need of it? I will come and donate it. You only have to bear my travel expenses,” reads his FB post.
“Blood banks are nothing but money-making institutions. Once I had gone to donate blood for a friend’s wife but the blood bank asked me to shell out more than Rs 1,000 in the name of service and storage charges. People like us can pay, what about the poor people?” he questions.
“After that I decided that I will visit patients and donate it to them directly,” Raghu expresses.
In pursuit of his dedication Raghu doesn’t even mind travelling out of the city. All he asks for is that his travel expenses be taken care of. As for those in the city, “I ask people to send me a text once the patient’s surgery is over. These messages are expressions of gratitude, joy and love for me. I treasure these,” he says solemnly.
He can be contacted at 98489 13000.