At 65, this blood donor hits a century

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

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Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 2

Starting the New Year with a noble act, a retired headmaster from Government High School, Patara, Sanjivan Dadhwal donated blood for the 100th time. Dadhwal, who will turn 65 this month said it would be his last blood donation because of his age.

“Those who are healthy and are aged between 18 and 65, must donate blood to the needy. It costs nothing, but gives you immense satisfaction,” Dadhwal said.

He added that he started donating blood at the age of 42 and there was no looking back since then. He donated his blood for around 85 times at the Civil Hospital and was always a call away whenever required.

“It is not considered healthy to donate blood once you reach the age of 65. But, the fact that I was able to be of some help to people around me gives me a sense of relief,” he said.

Dadhwal is a science expert too. He was selected as an evaluator for the 27th National Children’s Science Congress that was held at Thiruvananthapuram last year from December 27 to 31.

Dadhwal, as a science headmaster, completed his 38-year service with the Education Department. He retired from Government High School, Patara, in the year 2016. But after his retirement, Dadhwal remained active and was still providing services at state and national level. He has been a guiding force in organising several science-related events in the state.

Dadhwal was also the local coordinator on behalf of the National Council for Science and Technology for 106th Indian Science Congress that was held at Lovely Professional University (LPU). He coordinated Children Science Congress and also performed his duty as an evaluator for state-level science Congress for Punjab, J&K and Chandigarh.