Wakes up at 5 am, sips a glass of lukewarm water with lemon and honey, walks and cycles, has wholesome vegetarian food and then gets to work. Meet Chandrakantha K V who has been following this simple lifestyle for decades. The 59-year-old engineer has impacted 450 lives by generously donating blood. Born in Shivamogga, Chandrakantha is working with the Ministry of Defence in Bengaluru. Pushing himself with the motto of MAD (Make A Difference) to donate blood, Chandrakantha’s life is dotted with selflessness and compassion. Having an O+ blood type, his commitment to blood donation becomes even more remarkable when measured in numbers. So far, Chandrakantha has donated blood 346 times. With each donation contributing approximately half a litre, he has donated a staggering 173 litres of blood in total. Chandrakantha completed his engineering course in 1986 at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore. During his final year, he participated in a small blood donation camp at the college level. "Little did I know that, down the line, I would be so committed to this initiative and impacting hundreds of lives," he says. The next 12 years, he donated blood once a year. "I went back to Shivamogga to assist my father in running his shop," says Chandrakanth. In 1995, he landed a job as an engineer in the Ministry of Defence in Bengaluru. The turning point came in 1998 when he connected with Alphonse Kurian and his Lions Club Blood Line, accelerating his mission to make a difference. In 2015, Chandrakantha played a pivotal role in the stem cell donation for a six-year-old girl, who was suffering from blood cancer in Secunderabad, Telangana. "I was transferred to Yeddumailaram in Hyderabad, and the process took two years. The stem cell donation helped cure her cancer, proving the impact we can have through blood donations," he says. In the same year, Chandrakantha made a rare and unrelated stem cell donation to a young child from Gujarat battling blood cancer. "Finding an unrelated HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigens) match is incredibly rare, occurring once in 20 lakh cases. I was fortunate to be a match for the kid from Gujarat. The stem cell donation proved successful and by 2019, the child had fully recovered from cancer," says Chandrakantha. Of the 346 times, he has contributed to 60 whole blood donations, 281 single platelet donations and four white blood cell donations. "It's a fact that till date there is no substitute for human blood. The moment I realised this, I took it as a serious mission to donate blood regularly. Many tertiary cancer care hospitals in Bengaluru are in dire need of blood. Further, it's unfortunate to note that less than one percent of the Indian population donate blood," he notes. "I can shamelessly admit that I have cajoled, coaxed and coerced people, including friends and relatives, into donating blood," he says in jest. Drawing from his own experiences, Chandrakantha highlighted the critical need for single donor platelets during emergencies. "There have been times when I have donated three to four times a month due to emergencies," he said. However, he was quick to clarify that such a frequency is not recommended. Chandrakantha largely owes credit to his wife for his compassionate journey. "My wife is a nutritionist. If not for her support, I would not have come this far. I am a vegetarian and I thrive on simple homemade food. I don't consume polished rice, refined oil, instant or processed food and bakery items," said Chandrakantha. A day before his donation, Chandrakantha ensures he is hydrated enough and sleeps for 7-8 hours. In a message to the eligible donors unwilling to donate, he says, "Imagine yourself in an emergency, needing blood for a loved one, and the eligible donor refuses. What exactly would you do? Humanity is not lost, but you need to brush up and awaken it."
