A British charity has broken the world record for organising largest number of blood donations in a day, according to a report in The Guardian. The event was held on August 27 this year and the record was confirmed on September 17. The social justice charity named Who Is Hussain jointly organised the event along with the NHS Blood and Transplant (of UK's National Health Service), as well as the Imam Hussain Blood Donation Campaign. The blood donation drive was part of the #GlobalBloodHeroes.
The Guardian said that blood donation centres across the UK and in 27 countries, including Argentina, Iraq, and Thailand collected blood from more than 37,000 people creating the record. Volunteers in New Zealand kicked off the blood drive as the day began and the final donations came in from the West Coast of USA.
"The pandemic hit blood reserves across the world hard. With hospitals struggling to meet demands, 'Who is Hussain' volunteers rallied together and launched our Global Blood Heroes campaign. Donating blood is a universal act of compassion that can unite people all around the world - we all bleed the same. We're so excited that so many first-time donors came forward and many have committed to donating again, and will continue to, hopefully, for years to come," Muntazir Rai, the charity's director, said in a release.
The Global Blood Heroes campaign saw large numbers of first-time donors take part, with 50 per cent of donations in Canada and 25 per cent in the UK coming from those giving blood for the very first time.
The Official World Records, which authenticated the record, said that the total number of blood donations on that day were 37,018, which surpassed the previous record of 34,723 set in 2020.
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