Retd Vizag lecturer donates blood for 100th time, has given 35K ltrs so far

It was a proud moment for the 65-year-old Dr. Pilla Ramana Murthy from Visakhapatnam who donated blood for the 100th time on Monday. The retired Sanskrit lecture from BVK College in the city was delighted as he came out of the Rotary blood bank.

Dr. Ramana Murthy was felicitated by the Vice-Chancellor of Centurian University, G.S.N Raju, on behalf of the Rotary blood bank.

Most blood banks in Andhra Pradesh probably know the 65-year-old blood donor who has been donating blood since he was 21 years old. With a hemoglobin count of 14.4, Dr. Murthy's blood is mostly used for patients with low platelet counts.

Dr. Murthy recalls, "It was in 1975 when I was in BSc second year in AVN college. I was part of the NCC paratroop team participating in the 10,000-feet jump. There was a blood donation camp in the NCC camp and I was worried if I could take part in the jump after donating blood. But my senior motivated me and said donating blood will save three lives. After my first blood donation, I decided to donate blood for as long as I can." Since then, Dr. Murthy donated blood every six months. He completed his 50th donation at the age of 48 and then started donating blood every three months.

When asked about his best memory during his journey as a blood donor, Dr. Murthy answered, "It was six-seven years ago. I remember a six-year-old boy was fighting for his life. He had only white blood cells and no red blood cells in his body. I along with my friend donated one litre of blood to save his life. Whenever I see that boy now, it makes me so happy."

Dr. Murthy has been an inspiration for many youngsters who fear donating blood. He visits colleges asking students to maintain a healthy lifestyle to donate blood which will help save many lives. "There is a kind of happiness which we cannot describe in words after donating blood. The thought that your blood travels to many places, saving lives of people is a great achievement in life," says Dr. Murthy who has donated 35,000 liters of blood to date.

Retd Vizag lecturer donates blood for 100th time; has donated 35K liters so farAn aficionado of art and drama, Dr. Murthy has also written, directed, and acted in various plays and stage dramas earning him the Nandi Award in 2007. He has authored and edited Sanskrit textbooks for the board of intermediate education and helped prepare Sanskrit textbooks for undergraduate and postgraduate courses for Andhra University. For his active contribution to the field of teaching, he was awarded Andhra Pradesh state's best teacher award (2nd position) in 2004 by former Chief Minister Y.S Rajasekhar Reddy.