Dubai: Moved by death of friends' siblings, teen leads life-saving blood donation drive
Mayank Mehta, a 12th Grader studying in Dubai, recently executed a blood donation campaign to help patients in local hospitals.
After being saddened by the unfortunate deaths of his friends’ siblings in accidents, Mehta took the initiative to launch a campaign which greatly engaged the community. His efforts caused 64 people to donate blood.
"Honestly, I was very much affected when I heard about my friends' siblings getting into accidents and not making it. That is something which is very painful," Mayank, a citizen of India remarked.
“From that point onwards, I started thinking of what I can do to help. I decided it’s best to not wait for something to happen and took a step myself. I went directly to the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and talked to them about my ideas. After getting approved, I ran the campaign where I engaged the community for a month and a half during attempts to get them more informed. Along the way I distributed registration forms to many of my family, colleagues, and friends.”
His efforts will go on to help save the lives of residents in the UAE who suffer from life-threatening ailments or are victims of accidents.
The blood donation campaign took place this Wednesday at Almas Tower in Jumeirah Lake Towers, from 9 am-2:30 pm.
Mayank offered a quite noble example explaining the importance of blood donation, as he eloquently states, “There are many ways to give back — feeding the poor, lending money, and so on. But donating blood is something that directly saves lives. If I can help save a life, that’s the greatest contribution any of us can make.”
As a student from Delhi Private School (DPS), Jebel Ali, Mayank has plans regarding how to develop his project further. “I would love to organize another drive on a larger scale, with even more people donating. My next goal is to get over 150 donors within four to five months, depending on when the DHA gives the approval,” he said.
Along with his compassionate nature, Mayank is also agile on the basketball court and table tennis tables as he plays these sports at a competitive level for school, all at the age of 16.
Mehta tries to stress his beliefs saying, “Even though this was a small initiative on my part, I still hope it changes people’s lives for the better.”
“When I was looking into the needs for blood donations in Dubai, I found out that the Blood Donation Centre needs 160 units each day. That definitely encouraged me to participate in this cause. It is quite a convenient initiative for a student, and I really hope that my friends as well as the rest of the community develop similar initiatives.”
“Quite a number of people were really keen on making the donation, but sadly, the time allowed for registering had passed,” Mayank commented. “I hope next time I am able to include even more people ready to donate.”
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