Finding a blood donor at the right time in India can be quite a struggle. Considering how large our country is and that there’s unequal access to healthcare services, it can be a headache to find a donor when you need one.
However, Bapan Das has dedicated his life to providing people with the necessary blood donors when they need them. He is a constable posted in Kolkata Police’s Special Branch wing and has two mobile phones which have over 7,000 contacts with their blood groups and addresses mentioned after the name. When he needs a blood donor for someone, he just searches his contact list by the required blood group, reported The New Indian Express.
Bapan Das has been a special person ever since he was young. As a school and college student, he used to leave home at 7 AM and only return at 10 PM. He hails from a village in Chopra near the India-Bangladesh border. He used to travel 70 km to reach Siliguri to pursue his education.
“In my childhood, my sister died after being burnt while cooking. When I grew up, I came to know that she needed blood for treatment which could not be arranged. This really touched me,” Bapan shared.
He knew he wanted to do something useful with his life. In 2019, he qualified for a job as a police constable in Kolkata Police. After his training sessions, he ditched his colleagues and went to a place called Belur Math (the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda). One day, he came across a quote by Swami Vivekananda that read, “You were born to leave a mark.”
This became the motto of his life.
In the past 13 years, he has organized 19 blood donation camps. Bloods that fall under the negative category are hard to find but Bapan has stored the names of nearly 300 persons whose blood group falls under that category.
“I never give blood to private blood banks because poor and needy relatives of patients need to pay them for procuring blood. I always give it to government blood banks,” he said.
What an incredible human being!