This voluntary donors’ body needs new blood

“My friend died on my lap for want of blood. And from that day on, I found a mission in life,” says the unassuming chemist in Ashok Vihar who, along with four of his friends, started the VBDA back in 1988. The idea that germinated out of a tragedy has today taken the shape of a full-fledged movement. Anyone in need of blood can call up a member of this association, at any time of the day. Recently, a rickshaw-puller whose wife was suffering from cancer, approached him after learning about the VBDA through vernacular newspapers. All his friends and relatives had apparently refused to donate blood. Arora, along with his friends and VBDA members likeShivaji Bose, S P Sapra, Ajit Gupta and Sanjay, spent money from their own pockets to reach the hospital.

Today, the membership has swelled to 1,000 volunteers. “If just 10 per cent of the Delhi’s population starts donating blood once a year, no patient will die for want of blood,” says Arora.