Nepali youth on world cycle tour to encourage blood donation

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, May 16 :  A Nepali cyclist has planned to tour the world on a cycle to generate awareness about the importance of blood donation. 

Sandesh Subedi of Parbat district has recently completed his Nepal tour cycling from the east to the west, organising blood donation campaigns in the communities where he stopped for rest.

"It has been two years since I started cycling to raise awareness about blood donation. Recently, I cycled from east to west in Nepal. I felt immense pleasure in both cycling and in being instrumental in instilling the knowledge of the importance of blood donation in people," said Subedi.

During his Mechi-Mahakali cycle tour, Subedi organised blood donation campaigns in different places and collected 570 units of blood.

A lifelong member of Nepal Red Cross Society and Nepal Voluntary Blood Donation Society, cyclist Subedi got inspired by another Nepali world cyclist Ajit Baral for the world tour.

Subedi’s work in spreading the message of blood donation is related to his personal and tragic incident.

"I was a small kid studying in grade 6 when my mother underwent an operation of a brain tumour. My father told me then that he had faced difficulties to manage blood for my mother's operation. 

This incident and the difficulty in getting life-saving blood got imprinted in my mind," said Subedi.

Subedi's mother passed away some years after the surgery. His feeling about the difficulty in getting blood during surgery stayed on, stimulating him to do something for this humane cause. 

“I think I can do two things simultaneously while cycling around the world, first, my cycling will make my country, Nepal, further known around the globe, and second, I will also be raising public awareness on the importance of blood donation, said Subedi, a permanent resident of Pipaltari, Kushma Municipality-10 in Parbat.

Subedi said he would be accompanied by two other cyclists during his world cycle tour, which would begin soon.