Andhra youth walks 2,350 km to educate people on blood donation

GUNTUR: To promote awareness among people on the importance of blood donation, a 24-year-old youth took out a 2,350 km walkathon from Kanyakumari to Andhra Pradesh, covering Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Gandu Siva, a native of Timmayapalem in Addanki mandal of Prakasam district, pursued his degree in JKC College in Guntur. His parents Adilakshmi and Chimpiraiah are farm workers.

Narrating as to why he chose to undertake the awareness walk, Siva said he faced trouble in getting blood for his niece last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “As people were afraid to donate blood due to Covid-19, the blood banks asked me to bring donors in exchange of blood I needed. I asked everyone I knew for help, but none of them came forward. At last, I managed to group a few people for donating blood. The incident was like a wake-up call for me. Due to misconceptions, people are not coming forward to donate blood during Covid. So I decided to educate people on blood donation,’’ he said. 

With limited financial resources, Siva found it difficult to take up an awareness campaign in a big way. “Hence, I decided to undertake a walkathon across the country. My college lecturers Gopichand and Subhash Chandra Bose helped me. They contacted Red Cross Society members in all towns I covered to provide me help during the walkathon,’’ he said.

‘Walked for 14 hrs a day as part of my campaign’

On April 9, Siva went to Kanyakumari by train from Guntur and started his walkathon on April 11 from Vivekananda Statue in Kanyakumari. He interacted with people at hospitals, colleges and schools in  rural areas of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh during the walkathon. “I used to walk 40-43 km a day from 4:30 to 11:30 am and from 3 to 10 pm while conducting awareness programmes in between and take shelter at local bus stands and police stations at night,’’ he said, adding that the State governments of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and AP helped him by issuing e-passes so that he can travel even during curfew and lockdown.

“Everyone in my journey helped me a lot. Even villagers used to feed me,’’ said Siva, who returned to Guntur a week ago after covering 2,350 km. He has plans to resume his walkathon after conducting a blood donation camp in Guntur on June 14 to mark World Blood Donation Day. “I plan to visit as many villages as possible. Awareness on blood donation is very less in rural areas compared to urban areas.

I mostly focus on students and youth and encourage them to donate a unit of blood on their birthday every year. I plan to continue my walkathon in 20 States and reach Delhi as the final destination,’’ he said. Siva’s aim is to set up a blood bank near his native village in  Prakasam district so that people of surrounding villages do not have to face any problem in getting blood during medical emergencies.