4 blood donation camps in memory of Mohammed Fazil on Aug 7 to mark BHK’s 6th anniversary

Mangaluru, Aug 6: In memory of Mohammed Fazil, 23, who was hacked to death in Surathkal on July 28 by communal hatemongers, the Blood Helpline Karnataka (BHK) will be organising four blood donation camps on August 7 in the Dakshina Kannada.

The blood donation camps will be organised at Puttur, Ullal, Ammunje and Ulaibettu. The BHK aims to collect more than 500 units of blood through the four camps to be held in the district.

According to Ifaz Bannur, administrator of BHK, Mohammed Fazil was also a member of the organisation. “He was our member and he had donated blood 14 times during his life. In addition, he was also helping the forum to organise blood donation camps in various parts of Surathkal and other surrounding areas,” he said.

About BHK

BHK was launched on August 8, 2016 by a group of friends through a WhatsApp group with the theme ‘Let us become blood relatives’, to reach out to people in case there was a requirement for blood.

BHK was officially registered in 2017. Now, there are over 50 administrations functioning through 45 WhatsApp groups with over 5,000 volunteers.

The 50 administrations are 50 working members, who engage in organising blood donation camps in various parts of the district and also outside the district.

In addition, the forum has a wide-member base of more than 7,000 volunteers on Facebook.

Over the past six years, BHK has organised 203 blood donation camps in Mangaluru, Sullia, Puttur, Belthangady, Moodbidri, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, Manipal, Madikeri, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Mysuru, Vijayapura, Shivamogga, Hassan, and Bengaluru and has collected 11,612 units of blood so far.

Along with blood donation camps, the forum has 2,383 volunteers who directly visit the hospitals in case of emergencies to donate blood. During the Covid-19 pandemic, as many as 672 volunteers donated blood to the blood banks in the district, said Ifaz.

In fact, Fazil’s father Ummar Farooq, in his complaint to the police, had also informed how his son was living in harmony with all people in the region and had even donated blood several times in the past to save lives, irrespective of caste and religion.