In the Star (' Donors respond to SMS plea for AB+ blood '), there was a story about how an SMS was sent out asking for donors with AB+ blood. The story reported that seven donors were now on standby for a leukemia victim's marrow transplant next month. That's good news of course.

I would like to relate my own story of what happened when I received that SMS last Thursday. I immediately called a Mrs Chai at the number to verify if it was a genuine call for help. After trying many times, I got through. She spoke Mandarin and said, "Yes, it's for real."

So I sent it out to everyone on my phone list. A friend of mine with AB+ blood tried the number and did not get through all day. I think Mrs Chai may have switched the phone off because there were too many calls or they had found enough donors. The next day, we tried all day also and to no avail. Then I called Universiti Hospital's Paediatric Ward 6 (where the leukemia patients are) and was told that there was no such request for AB+ blood. So we stopped trying, thinking it was a hoax.

What am I trying to say? I guess using SMS for a good thing like this is a great way to raise awareness. I can't blame the parents for not wanting to answer the phone after a while just because they're preoccupied with matters, or maybe they had found enough donors.

I am quite mad, though, that UH's Paediatric Ward 6 did not know that their department was looking for donors with AB+ blood.