Man travels 300 km to donate blood to child with rare blood group in Karnataka

Mahesh Kumar, a blood donor from Chikkamagaluru, travelled over 300 kilometers to Dharwad to donate blood to a three-year-old boy with the rare Bombay blood group. The child, named Abhinandan, was receiving treatment for an inherited bleeding disorder at a private hospital in Hubballi. The child was in critical condition due to severe bleeding that caused a sharp decline in his haemoglobin level.

Finding a compatible donor was difficult because the Bombay blood group (hh phenotype) is an extremely rare blood type. People with this phenotype lack the 'H' antigen on their red blood cells and cannot receive ordinary 'O' group blood; they need blood from another Bombay phenotype donor. The child's father, Mahantesh, appealed for help, and the Swami Vivekananda Blood Donors Foundation initiated a search.

Shivakumar Rattihalli, the foundation's founder, reached out to Mahesh Kumar, a rare blood donor from Chikkamagaluru, and informed him about the child's condition. Impressed by the urgency, Mahesh agreed to donate blood and travelled for more than five hours to reach SDM Hospital in Dharwad, where he donated a unit of Bombay-group blood to the child after completing the necessary procedures.