Trucker with Rh-negative been donating rare blood for 33 years
TANJONG MALIM: An accident 34 years ago that befell a lorry driver opened his eyes to saving lives when he started donating blood after discovering that his Rh-negative blood type was rare to find in this country.
S. Shanmugam, 54, who has Rh-negative blood, said he has donated blood 54 times and was the largest donor of this rare blood type to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRPB) for the past 33 years.
"I was injured in a road accident in 1991, and broke my right leg along with other injuries, but my blood type was very difficult to obtain so the surgery was postponed.
"From there I realised that I also needed to become a donor out of a sense of responsibility towards the community in the hope that every drop of blood I donated could save a life,' he said after receiving an award in appreciation of top donors in conjunction with Perak's celebration of 2025 World Blood Donor Day at the Slim River Hospital here on Saturday (July 5).
Shanmugam, who lives in Teluk Intan, said he would go to HRPB four times a year to donate blood because it is rare due to the fact that in Malaysia, most people only have Rh-positive blood type, which amounts to more than 90 per cent.
The awards were presented by state human resources, health, indian community affairs and national integration committee chairman, A. Sivanesan.
Beh Zeng Kang, 29, a legal consultant, was crowned Best Blood Donor for common type of blood in Perak after giving blood 51 times since he was 17 years old.
Beh, who has blood type O which is the most common type in Malaysia, said the practice of donating blood has been a routine in his life since he was a teenager with the selfless intention of helping those in need without reward.
"I usually donate blood at Teluk Intan Hospital and at other locations through programmes organised by authorities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), so I definitely donate four times (permissible every three months) a year.
"As a Malaysian, I want to contribute according to my ability. As long as I am healthy, I will continue to donate for those in need,' he said.
Meanwhile, Sivanesan disclosed that the state has collected more than 64,416 bags of blood throughout the past year through co-hosting of blood donation events with agencies, NGOs, charitable bodies and others.
"The majority of blood donors are Chinese at 48.32 per cent, Malays (39.12 pct) followed by Indians (11.40 pct) and others (other races) at 0.76 pct.
"The demand for blood bags is also increasing year by year, and it is estimated that blood use in this state can reach 80,000 blood bags per year,' he said.
Earlier, Sivanesan also presented special certificates of appreciation to 36 blood donors for their continuous voluntary support to ensure that the supply of life-giving transfusions is sufficient at all times.
Appreciation also went out to 15 organisers who won heartfelt recognition for their success in hosting blood donation campaigns consistently, thus successfully recording an encouraging number of donor participation and number of blood bags in Perak.- Bernama
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