A Muslim man broke his Ramzan fast to donate blood to an eight-year-old patient of Thalassemia on Tuesday, 22 May, The Times of India reported.
Punit, a resident of Gopalaganj, was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday after a sudden drop in haemoglobin. He required immediate blood transfusion, but neither the blood bank at the hospital have his blood group nor was any of his relatives’ blood group A+. However, Punit’s father, Bhupendra Kumar, was later told to contact a blood donation society, reported The Times of India.
Bhupendra reached out to Anwar Hussain, a member of the District Blood Donor Team (DBDT), who then contacted fellow member Jawed Alam, whose blood group was A+.
Jawed rushed to the hospital only to find that the staff refused to take his blood as he was fasting. “Jawed decided to break his fast to be able to donate blood,” Hussain told the Times of India.
People diagnosed with Thalassemia cannot make enough haemoglobin required to produce healthy red blood cells. Regular blood transfusion is the only treatment available to the patients.
“Donating blood while fasting does not break one’s fast, as a substance is leaving your body. The fast is broken only when one consumes something. Although, people often break their fast when they donate blood as they are often given something to drink afterwards,” Imarat Shariah’s general secretary Maulana Anisur Rahman Quasmi told The Times of India.
(With inputs from the The Times of India)
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