Giving Life, One Pint at a Time: Mario Fernandes Is Goa’s ‘Blood Samaritan’

Mario Fernandes turned 50 on October 14 this year. On the same day, he marked another milestone – his 100th blood donation. Mario has been donating blood since he turned 18 and plans to continue until the age of 65, the upper age limit.

“It is probably the simplest way to save a life,” says Mario, who runs the Goa Blood Donation Association, a vast network of prolific donors who also dedicate their time to coordinating between hospitals, blood banks and patients who require blood, or its components, like plasma and platelets.

“I now donate platelets, because there are fewer people willing to do so. Platelets can be given to anyone, irrespective of their blood group. And one can donate every 15 days,” says Mario, adding that a healthy adult can donate whole blood once in three months.

The reason many do not want to donate platelets is that the process is longer; it takes around two hours, during which donor blood flows into a special machine that separates the platelets from the other components, which are then transfused back into the donor. “After the donation, I have a snack and lots of juice and soups to replenish the fluids and then go home for a nap. By evening, I feel as fresh as ever,” he says.

Mario is convinced that it is his passion for donating blood has kept him fit, strong and sprightly enough to scale 14,000-foot-tall peaks in the Himalayas. He doesn’t drink or smoke and consumes a healthy mix of vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs and lean meats to keep his iron and haemoglobin levels high.

“I don’t feel deprived; abstaining from unhealthy things is a small price to pay to be able to give someone the gift of life,” he quips with a smile. “There are so many ways to enjoy life, with music, dance, food and travel – I don’t miss out on anything,” he adds.

Mario, who now lives in Saligao, spent his childhood in Mumbai. “We lived next door to Tata Memorial Hospital, and often provided accommodation for cancer patients who needed long-term treatment,” he recalls. “From a young age, my mother taught me and my older brother Nelson to grab every opportunity to help people. She believed that kindness has a domino effect – today, if we make a difference in someone’s life, they will be inspired to pay it forward,” he says.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, Mario’s helpful nature went into overdrive. He ran a pharmacy in Mapusa then, and delivered medicines and essentials to people who could not leave home, ferried elderly people to hospital and helped coordinate hospital beds and oxygen cylinders to those in need – but caught the coronavirus thrice in the bargain.

Mario’s penchant for sales – he’s sold everything from tyres for MRF, pharma drugs for Novartis and insurance for Max Life, and won awards for his outstanding performance at each company – is evident in the way he advocates for the cause close to his heart.

“If everyone makes the effort to donate blood regularly, especially those with the rarer blood groups, it will improve the lives of thousands of patients – accident victims, children battling cancer, people with dengue and other serious illnesses. It is shocking that people refuse to donate to their own relatives, when they may be the best blood group matches,” he says.

“Blood unites people across race, religion, caste, and creed. Even those who avoid mingling with others from different backgrounds set aside these divisions when they need a blood transfusion,” he adds with a smile.

This article was originally published in O Heraldo Goa.