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Kolkata, March 20, 2026: As families across India celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with feasts and togetherness, one 20-year-old from West Bengal marked this season of giving in a way few ever will, by pausing his Ramadan fast to donate blood stem cells and save a life he had never met.
In India, someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer or blood disorder every 5 minutes. Behind each of those statistics is a patient waiting, hoping, and praying that somewhere out there a matching donor exists. For one such patient, that match came in the form of Mohammad Ashraf Ali, a young man from West Bengal whose quiet act of courage this Ramadan is now being hailed as a powerful symbol of what this season truly stands for.
Ashraf’s journey to becoming a lifesaving donor began not in a hospital, but on his phone screen. In 2022, a video by a popular social media influencer about blood stem cell donation stopped him mid-scroll. Moved by what he saw, he registered with DKMS Foundation India, a non-profit dedicated to fighting blood cancers and disorders like thalassemia and aplastic anemia, almost on impulse. He didn’t think much of it afterward. Life moved on.
Then, two years later, the call came. DKMS informed Ashraf that he was a match for a patient in critical need of a blood stem cell transplant. There was a catch, or rather, two. Ashraf has a deep-rooted fear of needles. And the donation would fall squarely during the holy month of Ramadan, requiring him to pause his fast.
For many, either obstacle alone might have prompted a hesitation. For Ashraf, the decision took almost no time at all.
“When I realised I could be the only match, my focus was only on the patient,” he said simply. On the question of pausing his Ramadan fast, a deeply personal act of faith for millions of Muslims worldwide, Ashraf offered a reflection that speaks to the very heart of the season. “For me, Ramadan is about self-discipline through prayers, fasting, reading the Quran, and bringing meaningful changes in my daily life. I believe that self-discipline also includes doing what is right. If you can help save one life, it almost translates to saving entire humankind. When I was given this opportunity, I chose to go ahead.”
A personal memory also steeled his resolve. Ashraf’s uncle had once faced a life-threatening health crisis, a reminder, close to home, of how fragile life can be and how much a single act of help can mean. With his mother firmly by his side, Ashraf gathered his family, addressed their concerns with patience, and won their collective support.
He then walked in, faced his fear of needles, and donated. The spirit of Eid-ul-Fitr, of gratitude, generosity, and reaching beyond oneself, found an unlikely home this year, in the steady hands of a young man who simply refused to look away when someone needed him.
Ashraf’s story, however, shines a light on a quiet crisis unfolding across India. Patrick Paul, Executive Chairman of DKMS in India, called Ashraf’s decision ‘deeply moving,’ adding: “We hope people get inspired by Ashraf and come forward to register, helping give patients with blood cancers and blood disorders a second chance at life.”
The numbers make the urgency clear. While 30% of patients with blood cancers or disorders may find a matching donor within their own family, the remaining 70% depend entirely on unrelated donors, strangers, like Ashraf. Yet today, only 0.09% of India’s eligible population is registered as a potential donor, leaving thousands of patients without a match, and without hope.
Every registration, Paul emphasizes, changes those odds. This Eid, as the spirit of giving fills homes across the country, Ashraf’s story is a reminder that the most profound gifts aren’t wrapped or exchanged over a meal, sometimes, they flow quietly through a needle, from one stranger to another, carrying with them the simple and radical belief that a life is worth saving.
Individuals between 18 and 55 years of age, in general good health, with a BMI under 40, and not already registered, are eligible to sign up as potential blood stem cell donors. Register at https://www.dkms-india.org/register-now
