Man who has donated blood 155 times to visit Malawi

Arjun Prasad Mainali, a man who has donated blood 155 times will make the long trip from New York in the United States of America to Malawi’s capital Lilongwe in order to donate blood at Kamuzu Central Hospital on 20th August, 2016.

The New Yorker began donating blood on 20th August, 1987 and he has planned to reach a record of 160 by the end of this year.

Mainali who has donated blood in 9 different countries around the world and in 14 states in the United States of America, also wants to use the trip to Malawi to motivate people to donate blood in order to save lives.

In an interview, the blood donor said blood is precious as it is not manufactured by machines but within the human body hence it feels good to give it to someone who is desperately in need of it.

“Our life is a gift from God, so donating blood to those who need help is a gift by us. Blood is produced by our body and a loss of 15% of blood in one time does not affect our body as the body adjusts immediately. So donating 500ml blood every three months does not involve any cost. That could help save someone’s precious life which brings smile and joy in their face,” said Mainali.

For the fear of any doubt, the revered blood donor sets the record straight to those healthy people who fear to donate blood saying that “donating blood does not risk your health as new blood is manufactured by the body.”

The selfless Mainali continues to make a forceful case to persuade healthy people to donate blood to whosoever is in need of it regardless of religion, race or place of origin arguing that we are all children of God hence love must lead in whatever we do.

He says: “Love and caring are inner feelings of human beings, those human beings who could understand other humans as a global family should take care of those humans who need desperate help to survive in lack of blood,” adding that in matters of blood donation, “no humans are separated by religion, race, and regional.”

Pressed as to what motivated him to start donating blood Mainali said: “When I was a young, I read a story of a blood donor (Joe Thomas from Michigan) saving others’ lives, at that time I realized that donating blood free of cost could save someone’s life.”

He added that he later saw a person who went to a blood bank with a doctor’s prescription to get blood to save his wife’s life hence it became crystal clear to him that donating blood indeed save lives and he thought of being part and parcel of those who donate blood to save such vulnerable lives.

Further asked as to what made him to make the pending trip to Malawi, Mainali said that in his research, he found that two thirds of patients in Malawi do not get blood supply easily and they suffer.

“That brought tears on my eyes. As I am a global blood donor encouraging thousands of people around the world to donate blood successfully. I feel the same here. We help each other to survive and for our communities to survive and to survive as a whole nation of healthy people,” he said.

He called upon all healthy Malawians to donate blood en masse in their respective hospitals arguing that if we do not help each other, nobody is going to help us.

The blood donor added that he “would like to see Malawi which is not deficient of blood in her blood banks in the hospitals.”

Mainali is very committed to this noble cause of donating blood. In 2014 alone, he donated blood 19 times; six times in different countries including United States, Canada, England, Bermuda, Macao and Ireland, and 13 times in New York.

He said of his trip to donate blood: “A lot of people would travel to different countries to see new places, but I travel to different countries just to donate blood. I would go in the morning and come back at night with my own resources and money. I realized that I am able to donate blood many times therefore I encourage people to donate blood at least once a year and let them know it’s for a good cause.”