Dubai A Dubai-based man, who has donated blood at least 38 times, received a heartening surprise when the ‘unknown’ beneficiary in his last donation turned out to be a dear friend.
Narrating the unlikely story ahead of the World Blood Donors Day on June 14, Emirati Saud Al Zarouni, 36, told XPRESS, “My blood group is ‘O’ negative and I have donated blood many times. It doesn’t matter who it is used for. However, the last time I donated blood in Sharjah, I happened to discover that the beneficiary was a dear friend who had met with an accident. We hadn’t met in two years but now we were connected by blood. It made me doubly happy.”
In 2013 an XPRESS cover story reported how Saud and his elder brother Sami Al Zarouni had between them clocked over 100 blood donations.
“We aren’t counting, but haven’t stopped donating,” said Saud, who has also prevailed upon seven Emirati friends to become regular donors.
He says that donating blood is a way of giving back to society. “It’s just a small way of helping others and perhaps saving someone’s life.”
