Every day, a lot of lives are lost due to the lack of preparation, management or the presence of the needed people. In a world of 7 billion people, it is obvious. But is it fair? Not at all.
Fortunately, a few times, people bring in the magic for people. Imagine there is a crowded hospital and everyone’s suffering. Cries, screams and words all around the place. Some of them are assured of health while some await for other people to come and save them. A similar situation is when someone is in need of blood and awaits someone else to donate it.
Now, a lot of times, there is a donor who really wants to help by donating. On the other hand, there is a serious patient desperately waiting for that donor. But if they don’t get connected, we lose a precious life and a kind will. Hereby, a team of lovely people thought to change this.
“Simply Blood”- a virtual blood donation platform by a group of six founders came into life to counter this situation. Who are they? What inspired them? How do they make a difference? Let us know all of it below.
Simply Blood was formed in 2017 by Kiran Sharma, Achal Garg, Neeraj Mehraniya, Mohit Kumar Balyan, Jatin Sahgal and Saurabh Gupta. It's headquarters is in Delhi, India. The most wonderful thing about it is that it is the first of its kind.
The App - SIMPLY BLOOD :
Built as an android app, it connects a blood donor with a blood recipient. You have to simply register on it as per your role or requirement and you are good to go. After registering, the GPS enabled app helps you track the other person within a distance of 10 kms. This not only makes it easier but also saves time.
If you are unable to download the app due to any reason then you can always look up to the website.
What brought it to life?
This began with an unfortunate event in one of the founders’ lives. Kiran Sharma, just at the age of 7, lost his mother because of cancer. This left him all alone with a feeling of contributing something for mankind. Soon after hitting 18, he started donating blood on regular intervals of time.
With each donation, his circle grew bigger. He got connected with a lot of people through the journey and founded a Whatsapp group. It was extremely good when one day, a member of the group lost his mother to dengue as the blood supply wasn’t made on time. With just 3 hours of difference, Mr. Kiran realized time is very precious and lives are extremely sensitive.
The urge to help out people attached with this cause grew in him every single day. On 28th of December 2016, the life changing turn happened for him. He got a call for blood donation and went in for it immediately. Soon, he felt the urge to meet the receiver but he was not able to due to some cause. So, he met his wife instead and came across the truth of how the blood he donated for free was made to be paid for. The receiver’s wife paid ₹1500 in order to get her husband to receive the blood.
Mr. Kiran found this upsetting enough and decided to do something about it immediately. He gave up his job in order to commit to this purpose on a full time basis. With the help of some people, especially developers, he got “Simply Blood” ready till 2017. And soon, he began spreading awareness about it. Travelling across the country and the neighbouring countries, he made sure people knew about this initiative and stopped suffering instead. More than 6 lakhs people got educated about this great initiative and this was a humbling experience for him.
Achievements:
A cause as good as this was of course appreciated by many. It started impacting several lives and gave people hope. To be specific, it has by now saved more than seven hundred lives across nine nations. Mr Kiran soon started turning his dream to save lives into reality. He got awarded for this kind initiative with the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 2017. And the application has never stopped growing since then.
A Note:
It’s rare when good deeds like these give us hope. If you are willing to be a part of this, you can always donate to the lovely startup any number of amount and be a part of the initiative.
Takeaway:
People like Mr. Kiran Sharma and the other 5 founders of “Simply Blood” restores our faith in humanity all over again. Started with a sad demise, the urge to contribute for humanity of Mr. Kiran got him to save the lives of hundreds. And while you are reading this, it continues to save lives.