Two Delhi Police constables have been trying their best to save the lives of critical COVID-19 patients by coordinating for blood plasma. The duo has managed to help at least 20 patients so far.
Constables Ravinder Dhariwal of 2012 batch and Amit Phogat of 2010 batch, posted in 6th battalion and outer district respectively, have been relentless in their life-saving mission. The latest donor was a constable who donated for a police officer’s relative at a private hospital on Wednesday.
Not just to COVID-19 patients, Mr. Ravinder and Mr. Amit have been donating and coordinating donation for blood and platelets to all since 2018, they told The Hindu. They added that they often get the help of their colleague Krishan Phogat.
Interestingly, Mr. Amit has donated platelets 64 times, the latest on Monday and Mr. Ravinder has donated 48 times. Since March 19, the duo has coordinated for 280 platelets donations and about 20 plasma donations. Most of them have been for civilians, including family members of Delhi Police officers.
“Recently, we arranged blood plasma for a 68-year-old man, who recovered. Fortunately, all the people we have arranged plasma for have recovered,” said Mr. Ravinder.
Helping humanity
What drives them to undertake this work voluntarily? To be able to help a miniscule number of people they can out of the country’s 1.3 billion population. “Yes, because there are millions of people who need this kind of help and if we are able to touch the lives of a few of them, then why not?” said Mr. Amit, who started donating in 2015 and gathered his friends to form a group of youths who donated whenever required.
Mr. Amit and Mr. Ravinder met during their posting in south Delhi’s Kotla Mubarakpur and Mr. Ravinder became the entrant in the donors group. However, in December 2017, an incident led Mr. Ravinder to take coordination and donation more seriously.
“I got a call from the family of a 14-year-old boy, who was diagnosed with blood cancer. I remember I was on duty at the time. I went and donated platelets. Stayed in touch with the family thereafter. But the boy passed away in four months. This incident has stayed with me since then,” Mr. Ravinder recollected.
Facebook page
In 2018 January, the two decided to start a Facebook page ‘Delhi Police Jeevandayini’ where they inform users about the requirement and those in need can get in touch with them. The officials said that they especially help people from other States and have come to Delhi for treatment as they might not have many contacts in the city.
“All the plasma donors we have contacted are Delhi Police officers who have recovered from the virus. Some of them have donated twice. Sometimes, they take special permission from their seniors and travel long distances to donate. For instance, an official who recovered from COVID-19 travelled 42 km to donate plasma,” he said.
For Mr. Amit, an incident stands out, something he says he is proud of. “In January, a woman from Kabul who was diagnosed with blood cancer needed blood. I donated. She recovered and left for Afghanistan. After reaching, she called me and praised India and its people. I felt really happy that day,” Mr. Amit said.
“Humain kuch milta thodi hai iske liye. Man ki shanti hai bas [We don’t get any rewards for this. It only gives us inner peace],” Mr. Ravinder smiled.