: Meet the Cop Who Braved a Cyclone to Donate Blood #IndiaNEWS #Health Care This article has been sponsored by Uber. It was an ordinary day for Akash Gaikwad. A Mumbai police constable from the Local

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Meet the Cop Who Braved a Cyclone to Donate Blood #IndiaNEWS #Health Care
This article has been sponsored by Uber.

It was an ordinary day for Akash Gaikwad. A Mumbai police constable from the Local Arms Division-2, he was reporting for his regular duty. Little did he know that the day would turn out to be extremely eventful and change his entire perspective on life.
Saving and protecting the lives of citizens has always been part of his work portfolio but this was a unique opportunity.
On 1 June 2020, Mumbai witnessed the tumultuous Nisarg Cyclone that upended peoples’ lives by creating havoc and even obstructed several forms of communication and transportation. At a time like this, when containing panic and ensuring the safety of citizens overwhelms civil servants, Akash had another life to save. “Working for strangers and helping them is a part and parcel of this job and something that I love about it. But that was memorable because I could go beyond the scope of my job and help save the life of a child,� he says.
This child was a young 14-year-old girl named Sana Fahim Khan. Living with a terminal heart condition, Sana had to be admitted to the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai and had to undergo open-heart surgery that very day. Sana had a rare blood type A+, and at a time when most hospitals across the city were grappling with a shortage of resources, especially blood, due to the pandemic, sourcing her blood type was a bigger challenge. Plus, the limit on transportation and communication caused by the cyclone made things even more difficult.
None of her family members could reach the hospital to satisfy her requirement by donating their blood. Desperate to save their daughter’s life, her parents instead circulated a text message among their acquaintances and on various social media platforms, seeking people who could donate the rare A+ blood. This was their only hope to save Sana’s life.
Coincidentally, one of Akash’s friends got the text message. He was aware of the fact that Akash had a rare blood type, especially because he would often engage himself in numerous blood donation camps to help people.

“A friend of mine told me about a small girl in urgent need of A+ blood. I have been donating blood for over 5 years and he knew that my blood type was rare. I was glad he told me about the requirement and without wasting time I went to help her,� narrates Akash.
Sana was a stranger fighting for her life and Akash’s one decision to show up and donate blood, gave her the most valuable gift of all — the gift of life. This decision, taken amidst two raging disasters, the cyclone and the pandemic, had considerable risk but nothing could deter Akash from both doing his duty and going out of his way to carry out a selfless act.

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