Mr. Arjun Prasad Mainali is an American citizen and well-known global blood donor who has donated blood products 203 times in different parts of the world. Mr. Mainali was aware of the blood shortages experienced in Ghana. Each year many mothers and pregnant women lose their lives due to excessive bleeding and unavailability of blood. He stated that he could not bear this painful situation and therefore decided to come to Ghana and donate blood as a way of motivating the youth in Ghana to become volunteer blood donors.
He arrived in Ghana on 26 August 2022 and gave blood on 27 August 2022 for the 204th time. He also motivated the youth to become voluntary blood donors and to keep giving blood to save more lives.
Mr. Arjun Prasad Mainali has always felt the need to give his blood to save others. To him, it was a choice he made 35 years ago about respecting life. Mainali, who is originally from Nepal, began donating blood at 19 years old, and he has left that vital part of himself on six continents and 19 countries – from the United States to Australia and then on to Rwanda, Malawi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya – all at his own expense.
As a regular donor – a frequent flyer, so to speak – Mainali has received tons of email notifications from Blood Centers that blood supplies were running low. With COVID-19 restrictions in place, he explained, many pre-scheduled blood donation programs were cancelled, and blood supplies decreased. With that thought in mind, it was hard for Mainali to sit back and watch without continuing what he considers his work in donating blood and motivating others to give blood donations themselves.
