Bhubaneswar, June 9: Whenever someone needs blood, he is the person people search for. With just one phone call, he travels from Baripada to Cuttack or Bhubaneswar to donate blood and platelets. He has been carrying out this noble service not for one or two years, but continuously for the last 30 years. So far, he has donated blood and platelets 126 times. This remarkable donor is Dr. Niroj Kumar Pothal.
A resident of Baripada, Niroj works as a life insurance agent. Recalling how he began donating blood, Niroj says that when he was 18 years old, he once visited a medical facility. There he saw an elderly woman sitting and crying on the hospital premises. When he asked her why she was upset, she said that her husband was seriously ill and urgently needed blood, but they could not find any donor. At her age, she did not know where to go or whom to ask for help. Following the advice of a doctor, Niroj donated blood that very day.
From that moment onward, he continued donating blood regularly. He is now 50 years old. Whenever someone calls him for help, he reaches there and donates blood as well as platelets. Twice every month, he visits SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar for donations.
Meanwhile, he has also established an organization named Narayan Seva Trust, which works to promote blood donation awareness. According to Niroj, a healthy person can donate blood up to the age of 65. He also says that donating blood has helped him stay physically fit.
UGC Notice
The importance of blood and blood donation must be understood, and people need to become more aware about it. Therefore, on the occasion of World Blood Donor Day, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued a notice directing higher educational institutions to organize voluntary blood donation camps.
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