Differently-abled man from Mumbai donates blood for 25th time

By Sandip Kumar Singh
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 16 (ANI): A 41-year-old differently-abled man from Mumbai has proved that disability is just a state of mind and has donated blood 25 times since 2002.
Pravin Bhandekar, an Executive engineer in Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), has problems while speaking as well as his left hand is not totally active since his childhood.
While speaking to ANI, Pravin Bhandekar said that he started donating blood when he was in college.
"First time while donating blood there was a fear that because of my disability. However, after I spoke to the doctor there and he assured me that I will be fine, I gave blood from my right hand. So, it was 2002 since I started donating blood. Till now I have donated about 25 times," he said.
Pravin Bhandekar said that many times his mother tried to stop him but he never stopped. Even during the ongoing pandemic he visited many blood donation camps to give blood.
"There were many times when my mom used to shout at me after getting to know about my blood donation as she was worried about my health," said Bhandekar.

He further said that his blood type is O positive which can be used for anyone gives him immense satisfaction.
"My blood group is o+ which can be used for anyone this gives me immense satisfaction. So, when I came here to Mumbai I used to travel from my house Belapur to Dadar Hindmata as I was posted there. Hospitals like JJ, KEM Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital were very close so I used to donate blood there," he said.
Bhandekar said that he experiences a very unique satisfaction after donating blood and he feels very proud and he can't express his happiness in words.
"I experience very unique satisfaction after donating blood, I remember coming out of Tata Memorial hospital and after looking at the faces of patients there I used to be happy that my blood will be used to cure them which gave me huge happiness. Even in this pandemic when there was a huge demand for blood I visited several camps and gave my blood. Being here at MMRDA my senior colleagues always supported me. I feel proud and can't say in words about my happiness," he added. (ANI)