A cause worth fighting for

Kiran Verma, a youth from Delhi, has walked 12,000 kilometres and reached Bangladesh to raise awareness about blood donation.

He started from Kerala on December 28, 2021 and walked across 169 districts in 12 states in India and reached Bangladesh through the Benapole border on foot on March 11, 2023.

He conducted sessions in Bangladesh at Chattogram Medical College Hospital, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital and in front of Jatiya Press Club. He also worked with local blood banks, voluntary organisations and blood donors to enhance their capacities and motivate people for blood donation.

Kiran's dedication for this noble cause started with an extremely tragic incident.

On December 26, 2016, he got a call in which he was informed that a poor family from Raipur, Chhattisgarh in India needs blood. Kiran went to the hospital to donate to that family.

After donating, he went to meet the family and got to know that the person who called Kiran took Rs 1,500 for the blood which he donated for free.

He got to know that the lady who paid for his blood got into prostitution to pay medical bills for her terminally-ill husband.

Kiran was shocked to his core. On the same day, he left his job and vowed to help people who need blood in case of emergencies. With this motto, Kiran founded a virtual platform to connect blood donors and seekers named "Simply Blood".

The app works like Uber or Pathao, and connects the right donors with seekers without charging anything to anyone.

Then Kiran started his journey of covering 21,000 kilometres on foot to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation all across India and beyond.

"I believe everyone, no matter their country or nationality, should be aware of the importance of blood donation. It's a selfless act that can save lives. There should be no price tag on blood donation and related services," said Kiran.

"Bangladesh and several parts of India such as Tripura and West Bengal are culturally very similar. However, in Bangladesh, there is a culture of voluntary blood donation, particularly in the cities like Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet," said Kiran.

Kiran pointed out the fact that blood transfusion is quite expensive for the rural populace of Bangladesh, and there is also a lack of trained workforce and equipment in the upazila-level hospitals.

Kiran will leave Bangladesh within a few days and continue his walk to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and parts of South-east Asia followed by the rest of India.

Besides spending his own savings, Kiran has been receiving support from volunteers, blood donation organisations and many of his well-wishers.

To support his walk, 99 blood donation camps have been organised in different countries, where more than 20,000 units of blood have been collected to support his walk. He was recently invited on India's biggest TV show, "The Kapil Sharma Show".