Chennai: It was cycling for a cause. Over 250 cyclists, across all age groups, including blood stem cell donors, pedalled all the way from Taramani to Mamallapuram on Saturday to create awareness on blood stem cell donation. The awareness rally organised by Datri Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry, a non-profit organisation, along with Pro-Bikers, was flagged off by Cognizant Technologies Vice-Chairman Lakshmi Narayanan.
Urging the people to register themselves as donors, Vimal Fernandes, a donor, who took part in the rally said, “I donated blood stem cells in February and I am fine.” Blood stem cell donation is a blessing for people who are in need of a matching blood stem cell and it can give life to someone who is suffering from fatal blood disorders. “The feeling you get when you realise you have helped someone is very satisfying and cannot be express in words,” he said.
With increasing cases of fatal blood disorders, there was an urgent need for more donors, said Raghu Rajagopal, CEO and Co-founder of Datri, which is India’s largest adult unrelated blood stem cell donors’ registry founded in 2009 to help patients to find a healthy, willing, genetically matched donor. Datri has more than 93,000 registered voluntary donors, has facilitated 110 Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) donations, works with 11 collection centers and has serviced 27 Transplant Centers, including six hospitals abroad. Datri is associated with Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide (BMDW) and is a member of World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA).
