Man with rare 'Bombay' blood group travels from Maharashtra to MP to save woman's life
Indore (PTI): A florist with the rare 'Bombay' blood group travelled more than 400 kilometres by a car from Shirdi in Maharashtra to Madhya Pradesh to help save the life of a 30-year-old woman who was critically ill, officials said.
Ravindra Ashtekar, 36, who runs a wholesale flower business in Shirdi, reached Indore in MP on May 25 and donated blood to the woman, admitted to a hospital here, following which her condition has improved, they said.
"When I came to know about the critical condition of this woman through a group of blood donors on WhatsApp, I left for Indore in a friend's car, travelling about 440 kilometres. I obviously feel good because I could make some contribution from my side in saving the woman's life," Ashtekar told PTI on Tuesday.
He said in the last 10 years, he has donated blood to the needy patients eight times in his home state Maharashtra as well as in different cities of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Dr Ashok Yadav, head of the transfusion medicine department at the government-run Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital here, on Tuesday said the woman had been accidentally administered 'O' positive group blood during an operation for an obstetric ailment in another hospital.
Due to this, her condition deteriorated and kidneys were also affected, he said.
"When the woman was sent to Roberts Nursing Home in Indore after her condition deteriorated, her haemoglobin level had fallen to around 4 grams per decilitre, whereas the haemoglobin level of a healthy woman should be 12 to 15 grams per decilitre," he said.
After being administered four units of 'Bombay' blood, the woman's condition has become better, Yadav said.
If the woman was not given blood of this rare group on time, her life could have been in danger, he said.
Ashok Nayak, head of the blood call centre at Indore's social organisation Damodar Yuva Sangathan, helped in the collection of 'Bombay' group blood for the woman patient.
Two units of blood of this group were transported by air from Nagpur to Indore for the woman, and her sister also donated one unit of blood in Indore, Nayak said.
'Bombay' blood group, said to be discovered in 1952, is rare in which there is the absence of H antigen and presence of anti-H antibodies. Patients carrying this blood can receive transfusion only from a person from within this group.
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Nine hospitalised after fire breaks out in residential building in Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): Nine people, including women and a minor girl, were hospitalised after suffering breathing-difficulties when a fire broke out in a four-storey residential building in Delhi's Shahdara area on Sunday, officials said.
According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), a call regarding the blaze at D-45 in Mansarover Park was received at 12.03 am.
Three fire tenders and a water bowser were rushed to the spot. The fire had erupted in domestic articles kept in the parking area on the ground floor of the building, a senior fire official said.
During the rescue operation, DFS personnel evacuated nine people trapped on different floors of the building and shifted them to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital after they complained of breathing difficulties caused by smoke inhalation.
The injured were identified as Vanshika (20), Tanishka Soni (19), Durgesh (49), Yogesh Verma (50), Raj Rani (65), Arun Garg (48), Ananya (12), Renu Garg (19), and Prateek Garg (19).
Officials said all the rescued persons were admitted to GTB Hospital and kept under observation.
The fire was later brought under control, officials said, adding that the exact cause the blaze is yet to be ascertained.
