ANANTAPUR: Blood donation for him has become a passion and in the past 21 years, he donated his blood, a rare O-Negative, 109 times. This apart, he is also instrumental in building a network of 7,500 blood donors in the country.
His name is Mochi Chandrasekhar of Anantapur district, better known as O-Negative Blood Donor.
Chandrasekhar, who is in his forties, started his life as a small employee in Gemini Colour Labs in Anantapur district headquarters. From being a booking clerk earning `800 per month, today he grew up to be the manager of the colour lab.
Initially, when Amarnath Reddy of Manavatha Blood Donors' Society approached Chandrasekhar, after knowing that he has a rare blood group and asked him to donate his blood, Chandrasekhar refused. However, after Amarnath’s repeated appeals, when Chandrasekhar donated blood for the first time, he was not aware that his blood group was a rare one. In 2000, he donated blood in Anantapur government hospital.
When he inquired about the people to whom he donated blood, “I was surprised to know they were distant relatives of mine. I felt happy for helping to save lives From then on, I continued to donate blood, and in due course, it became more than a habit,” he said. Since then Chandrasekhar has been donating blood every three months. He says he gets calls asking for blood for emergency cases once every three months.
“In 2001, a pregnant woman was admitted in the Anantapur government hospital. She was O-Negative and was in need of blood during delivery. Her husband could not get the blood; he has been trying to get it for nearly one week. When he gave up, someone gave him my contact number. He immediately contacted me and explained the situation. I went to the hospital and donated my blood. The couple’s happiness knew no bounds and I felt happy to have saved two lives. I have no words to describe that feeling,” he said.
Treating blood donation as a God-given responsibility, Chandrasekhar is continuing his mission for the past 21 years. He never takes money and bears his own transport charges to hospitals and advises others to follow his lead.
“I am happy that my wife, two children, two brothers, their wives and their children who live with me, encourage me. My son is also O Negative and he too accompanies me to donate blood,” he said. Chandrasekhar has only 10 per cent of work related contacts saved on his mobile phone, while 90 per cent are contacts of blood donor groups. During the last two decades, he networked with like-minded individuals, with rare blood groups and normal blood groups across the country. Whenever there is need, a simple phone call and blood is donated. Chandrasekhar also donates blood to a hospital in Vellore.