George Town Father and Son Honoured for Rare AB Negative Blood Donations

Last month, George Town resident Shaikh Shamsudeen and his father Shaikh Sadaqathullah were honoured at the Kavikko Convention Centre in Mylapore for their dedicated commitment to voluntary blood donation. The father-son duo, who both carry the rare AB Negative blood type, were recognized by Crescent Blood Donors at an event marking World Blood Donors Day.

The award was jointly presented to them by film director Ameer Sultan and Ahmed Buhari, a trustee of the B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science & Technology. Both father and son coordinate their emergency donations through the Madras Voluntary Blood Bureau (MVBB) in Gopalapuram, an organisation run by the TTK Group that celebrated its Golden Jubilee in April this year.

Shamsudeen, now 29 years old, began his donation journey in 2016 while studying at New College. When an urgent call for AB Negative blood for a patient at the Cancer Institute reached his classroom, Shamsudeen volunteered immediately. This marked the start of his effort to follow the example set by his father.

Since then, Shamsudeen has accumulated 22 blood donations. Because AB Negative is a rare blood type shared by only two per cent of the global population, Shamsudeen does not donate on a standard quarterly cycle. Instead, he coordinates closely with the MVBB, which maintains his records and contacts him whenever an emergency request arises.

His father, 56-year-old Shaikh Sadaqathullah, has a total of 53 donations. Sadaqathullah's journey began in 1993 at the Perambur Railway Hospital after responding to a friend's call. He subsequently focused on emergency donations due to the rare nature of his blood type. Although Sadaqathullah, who is also an amateur radio operator with the call sign VU2SDU, has recently stopped donating blood due to health concerns, his legacy continues through his son.