Bishnu Charan Sahoo. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 19: For Bishnoo Charan Sahoo, 52, donating blood is a sacred duty. Sahoo, who contracted polio when he was seven, has donated blood 100 times since 1984.

Recalling the day when he donated blood for the first time in November 1984, Sahoo said the doctor refused to take his blood because he was physically challenged.

“A woman giving birth at Jajpur hospital and short of haemoglobin, was in urgent need of blood. I offered to donate blood but the doctor refused. The same day I donated blood at the central blood bank, Cuttack. Since then, I have been donating almost every three months,” said Sahoo, who works as an auditor in the state finance department.

Though his family members initially were opposed to the idea of him donating blood, later they also joined him in offering blood to those in need. All his family members including his wife, two sons and a daughter, donate blood on a regular basis.

“I used to dissuade him from donating blood frequently because I thought it would take a toll on his health. But he convinced me that blood donation did not affect one’s health. Then I, too, followed him,” said his wife Renubala.

Sahoo, who has a masters degree in economics and political science from the then Ravenshaw College and a bachelor’s degree in law from Madhusudan Law College, Cuttack, has even made trips to Delhi and Chennai to donate blood.

“It has never affected my health. Instead, it has helped me get rid of skin diseases. I am now 87kg, which shows my health has never been hit by blood donation,” said Sahoo, who is also vice-president of the Paralympic Committee of India.

Sahoo has won several awards at the state and the national level for his efforts to save others by donating blood. “Youths, especially those above 18 with a sound physique, should come forward to donate blood. If a physically-challenged old man like me can donate blood so many times, what is it that stops young men from donating blood?” said Sahoo.

Secretary of the state Red Cross Mangala Prasad Mohanty said it was heartening to see a physically-challenged person, along with his family members, frequently donating blood. “It will motivate others to do the same,” said Mohanty.

Sources said Odisha needed nearly 4,00,025 units of blood every year but managed with only slightly more than 3,00,000 units, which is 75 per cent of the requirement.