Blood Donation Camp for Patients of Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama

Date: 14 November 2020
Location: Walpita
Organised by: Isura Wickramarachchi Foundation & Walpita Youth
Purpose: Blood donation in support of patients at Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama

During 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted everyday life throughout the country, maintaining an adequate blood supply for hospitals had also become increasingly difficult. Patients undergoing treatment at Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama, in particular, continued to require blood, and we received a request to help gather blood donors on their behalf.

For us, this was more than an ordinary request. Medical and blood-collection teams were travelling and working continuously to secure the blood required by patients. We felt that if they could dedicate themselves throughout the month, we could dedicate at least one day of our lives to supporting their effort.

With that purpose, the Isura Wickramarachchi Foundation, together with the youth of Walpita, organised a blood donation camp on 14 November 2020. Medical personnel and the necessary blood-collection facilities were brought to the venue, with health precautions being followed during the pandemic period.

I also donated blood personally on the day. That moment, preserved in these photographs, remains particularly meaningful to me because this was not simply a community project that we organised; it was an occasion when we were able to give something from ourselves that could directly help another human life.

During the pandemic, all of us experienced uncertainty and difficulty in different ways. Yet thinking about patients fighting serious illness while depending on a continuing supply of blood gave this programme a deeper meaning. For us, the day was ultimately about humanity, compassion and giving a little of ourselves for someone we might never even meet.

Everyone who donated blood, helped organise the programme, or supported it in any other way became part of that effort. If the blood collected that day helped give even one patient another opportunity to continue their fight for life, then the time and effort we contributed were worthwhile.