Call for blood donations for injured Palestinian pilgrims met with overwhelming response

AMMAN — A request for blood donation for 34 Palestinian pilgrims who were injured in a road accident in the Kingdom’s southeast on Wednesday night was met with an overwhelming response by Maan residents.

Yahia Al Khattab was among those who hurried to Maan Public Hospital to donate blood.

But the grocery store owner waited 40 minutes for his turn, until he was finally told that the hospital does not need any more blood units.

“So many people from Maan had flocked to the hospital to donate blood. The hospital staff said they do not need any more units following the great number of people who donated,” Khattab told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

Sixteen Palestinian pilgrims died in the accident, when a bus taking them to Mudawara border crossing into Saudi Arabia to perform umra (the lesser Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca) overturned on Wednesday night,  said Walid Ruwad, director of Maan Public Hospital.

Ruwad said the hospital already had 60 blood units and needed more units as a back-up. 

“As soon as residents of Maan [some 220km south of Amman] learned about the need for blood units, so many people headed to the hospital to donate. We took 13 units, and so many people were upset because they wanted to take part in the donation process,” he added. 

Many of those who donated blood refused to be interviewed, saying they did it for “God, not for publicity”.

One of the city’s residents who gave blood said the donation is “our duty towards our brothers”. 

“I cried when I saw the injured people, and I am still thinking of them. I did not think twice about helping them, and this is a simple example of what the city’s residents do for their visitors,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone on condition of anonymity. 

He recalled that many people drove their own vehicles to help Civil Defence Department personnel transport the injured people, although the site of the accident is on the outskirts of the city, while hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital to offer help.

Akram Bazayaah, another Maan resident, said he saw many children and elderly people who wanted to donate blood as well.  

“Many people offered to host the injured and their families and provide them with food,” he said. 

Hussam Habahbah, another Maani who tried to donate and was unable to do so, said the city’s residents were urging people through social media networks and making phone calls to request  blood donations.