He walks and talks about blood donation

This 33-year-old former marketing head of a Noida-based university is on a mission to save lives by promoting blood donation.

He developed a mobile application — Simply Blood — which allows people to find donors online and so far more than 2,000 lives had been saved across 11 countries at zero cost.

Meet Kiran Verma, who kick-started his gruelling mission from Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on January 26, 2018 and has already travelled several States in the last three months by walking and using various public transport covering 7,000 km.

“It is sad to know that blood donation has come down in Delhi and several metros. The cases of blood donation are abysmally low. The need of the hour is to create awareness as nearly 15,000 people die for want of blood in the country,” Mr. Verma told The Hindu on Monday.

There is a poignant story behind his mission. His mother passed away after she was diagnosed with cancer.

Her death made him realise the importance of life and spurred him to establish the online platform.

He said there were still many phobias associated with blood donation and citied several examples and felt the need for a concerted effort by various stakeholders to reach more people. “I have donated blood for more than 40 times in the past 15 years,” he points out.

Mr. Verma covered Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa, Daman, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Puducherry to create awareness of the app.

“I met more than 6,50,000 people across the country. I shared my vision with students in colleges, universities and public places like malls, restaurants, railway stations, bus stands etc.”

Mr. Verma said his aim was to meet 10 people for every kilometre and take a pledge from them that they would donate blood at least once in their life.

His quest to promote blood took him to neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Nepal as well.