No, I’m not talking about beer. I’m talking about blood. Nothing gory or disgusting. Although you would probably feel the latter after you’ve read this story. It happened to Bahrinshah, my officemate. I do not know this guy personally, but his story is one that I think should be made known to the public.

Here goes…

For the past few months, Bahrinshah’s son, 8 years old, has been diagnosed with leukemia (blood cancer) and is currently being hospitalised at the Sime Darby Medical Centre (used to be known as Subang Jaya Medical Centre). About 2 weeks ago, his son’s condition improved but for the past few days, there were relapses and the poor kid has used up at least 18 pints of blood for transfusion processes.

Due to the high usage of blood, the management of SDMC has asked Bahrinshah to find blood donors who can help to replenish their blood bank regardless of the blood group.

Apparently the hospital has a silent policy: those who have used up more than 10 pints of blood must find replacements on a one-to-one basis. Meaning, each pint of blood used must be replaced with the same amount. 

For Bahrinshah, failure to do this may result in his son not being able to continue the treatment at SDMC or be denied of future admission.

So… news to you? Yeah, to me too. Who would’ve thought a hospital would have this rule and not made known to the public. I guess one would only know about it when one is experiencing it. But still…

Anyway, a blood donation drive was immediately conducted and the response from other staff was tremendous.