Meet the man Patna dials in case of an emergency
From arranging blood, platelets and other life-saving services, to facilitating cremations during the darkest days of Covid, Patna's 'blood donation man' extends a helping hand when residents need it most
Mukesh Kumar Hissariya, is known as the 'blood donation man of Patna'. During the peak of the Covid pandemic, when getting treatment for those with the virus, and even cremations for those who died of it, became hard to arrange, there was one man that many in Patna turned to.
Mukesh Kumar Hissariya, known as the ‘blood donation man of Patna’, has arranged blood and platelet donations for scores of people. He himself has donated blood 53 times. And during the pandemic, he arranged the cremations of 375 people who died of Covid and didn’t have anyone to conduct their funerals.
He has also arranged bone marrow transplants for 45 children suffering from Thalassemia and Haemophilia, and he facilitated 32 eye donations.
His fervour for social service also extends beyond emergencies. He has organised mass weddings for as many as 539 couples from poor backgrounds.
The 51-year-old’s phone rarely stops ringing. Since 2022, he has been running a blood bank called Maa Blood Centre, which has so far given 8,601 units of blood to 6,667 people.
“I was primarily in blood donation services. In 2020, during the first wave of Covid, I got a call from a child who said that someone in his family had died because of Covid and no one was willing to take the body for cremation for fear of getting infected. I was clueless on what to do, but talked to some crematorium workers who agreed to arrange some people to take the body for cremation for a price,” Hissariya said of how he started helping in cremations during the pandemic, which got him wider attention and plaudits. With his organisation, Maa Vaishno Devi Seva Samit, he helped cremate 375 bodies under similar circumstances.
“I was there at Baans Ghat to ensure the body is cremated with proper rituals and with dignity. This is how it all began. On one end, I had been providing blood and platelets to ailing people, and I would also be at crematoriums to cremate unclaimed bodies,” said Hissariya, who is originally from Jhumri Telaiya, but is a resident of Patna. He sells and distributes Ayurvedic medicine for a living.
His journey into social service began in 1991, when he saw people scrambling for blood at the CMC Vellore hospital where his mother was undergoing treatment. The same year, he donated blood for the first time, and continued to do so since then until he was recently diagnosed with diabetes.
Even as he continued to help people in many different ways, his focus has been blood donation. He organised several blood donation camps, and had been wanting to set up a blood bank for years.
If he could have set up a blood bank sooner, he could have helped even more people, he says. “Even Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had registered his appreciation for my efforts. But still, no one was ready to give us land to set up the blood bank. Finally, thanks to private donations, my dream was realised. The CM opened the blood bank in 2022,” Hissariya said.
Even now, he says, as much as 20% of the cost of running the blood bank comes from private donations – from people who have benefitted from its services, or others who want to help a good cause.
Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi described Hissariya as a passionate social activist.
“I had discouraged his idea of setting up a blood bank because of the recurring costs and sustainability challenges. But he was determined to do so,” the BJP leader said, underlining Hissariya’s determination.
“He stood out during trying Covid times by arranging cremations of Covid victims, especially of those whose families had not turned up at hospitals to receive the bodies. At the same time, he also faciliated organ donations and bone marrow transplantations for children suffering from Thalassemia. The best part of Hissariya is that he keeps himself in the background and gives due credit to his umpteen volunteers,” the MP said.
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