Interview
Border News Agency
Kyauktaw, June 26.
Daw Khaing Sein Hla, 74, who lives near the bus station in War Taung Village, Kyauktaw Township, an area controlled by the Arakan Army, passed away on June 19.
According to family members, she was receiving treatment at a clinic for a ruptured gastric artery when, on the evening of June 19, she passed away due to the inability to find emergency blood.
A family member spoke to Border News Agency about her death and the difficulties they faced in finding blood.
“Her name was Daw Khaing Sein Hla, and she was 74 years old. She suffered from a ruptured gastric artery. She had a fever and wasn’t able to eat. According to the doctor, her stomach was inflamed and the artery ruptured.”
“She arrived at the hospital on Thursday. She had been running a fever for one or two days at home before that.”
“It all happened within a single day, but the needed blood did not arrive on time. The doctor said blood was urgently required, and he had been saying this since around 12 a.m. However, they were unable to find suitable blood. Even when someone came, it didn’t work out. Donors who came had low blood levels themselves and couldn’t give. Trying to find blood elsewhere wasn’t possible either. Poor communication made searching even more difficult. They believe the delayed blood transfusion was the cause.”
“There’s a shortage of blood, and it’s difficult to go and find it.”
“In the past, when phone lines were working, we could easily contact people with the same blood type and go anywhere to find blood. But now, it’s not that simple. Sometimes we have to ride a motorcycle to find one person, then go somewhere else, it’s very difficult. People have to go in person and call others.”
“At first, the doctor said she had a ruptured gastric artery and urgently needed blood.”
“When we started searching for blood, the first donor arrived. But we still had to go look for more donors. One donor came, but they couldn’t give blood because they were anemic. Then we had to search again, and the time kept slipping away.”
“We don’t know the name of the group. They connected us with a blood donor group from Apaukwa village and directed us to that group. The nurses called a donor, but it didn’t work out, so we had to search again. They also went out to look for donors to help. Unfortunately, the process was delayed.”
“When the blood they found wasn’t suitable, we went out ourselves to look for donors. Although we managed to find someone willing to donate, it was too late to transfuse the blood to the patient.”
“We don’t want such situations to happen again. If possible, we would like to join such blood donor groups ourselves.”
“Losing a whole life over the need for just one unit of blood is heartbreaking. That’s why the doctor said blood was urgently needed. Because the transfusion couldn’t be done in time, the patient died. We believe this tragedy happened due to the lack of available blood.”
“We ourselves have started wanting to join such donor groups. You can’t just donate whenever you want—you have to match the blood type. Even if you want to help, your blood type might not be compatible. And even the donors sometimes can’t give blood. Finding another donor is also difficult.”
“We don’t want anyone else to face such difficulties. It was blood type A. There’s really nothing more to say. The person who died has already passed away.”
“We’re still trying to comfort ourselves by saying it happened because she was elderly. Since she was over seventy, we tell ourselves, ‘Oh, she was old enough to die,’ and that’s why she passed away.”
“For children, young people, and adults, it’s really hard to even imagine or accept. Even we feel deeply unsettled and dissatisfied.”
“No matter what happens, when the need arises, I want to do everything I can on my part. I keep wondering if we could give a blood transfusion in time, could she have survived?”
“We don’t want situations like that to happen. We want everyone to get what they need when they need it. We don’t want a whole life to be lost over just one unit of blood.”
