Going mobile to create awareness on blood donation

Meet Blood Shiva Kumar, a daily wage worker from Davangere, who came all the way to Moodbidri to spread awareness about blood donation.

Not just Moodbidri, Shiva Kumar has travelled far and wide with such an ambition.

Shiva Kumar was once a bodybuilder. After youth, he had to resort to modest jobs such as cleaning tables at hotels and daily wage masonry.

When his sister suffered severe burns in 2000, he and his family experienced shortage of blood donation facilities which inspired him to take up for this noble cause. For 17 years, Shiva Kumar has taken up strange yet impactful steps to collaborate with nearly, 3,000 blood donors around the state.

Having donated blood 65 times, Shiva Kumar has coordinated thousands of blood donation camps around Karnataka. He is himself blessed with the blood group O positive, which is known as 'the universal donor'.

Disregarding all forms of opposition that call him 'crazy' for prioritising this passion over his daily necessities, Shiva Kumar travels as far as possible, in order to create awareness. He paints himself in the colour of blood, draws and writes awareness messages on his body and parades along crowded areas.

At the Alva's Nudisiri too, he was part of the grand procession before the inauguration of the literary fair.

Blood Shiva Kumar never fails to catch eyes as he walks along, even when he is not deliberately creating awareness. He has made 'red' the colour of his life, and keeps himself dressed in red all the time. The red glasses, red cap, red dress and red shoes surely send out his message even without him speaking about it.

He said he is ready to sell his modest house at Davangere, which would earn him around Rs 30 lakh, and utilise the amount to make his campaign more effective. Blood donation saves several lives daily, he reminds us.

Although an illiterate, Shiva Kumar has the ambition to coordinate a portal that will let him manage blood donation processes better. He does have expectations from the government and hopes someday he will be regarded and supported better.