KUCHING: Tazlan Jen and his wife Nur Atirah Voon Abdullah, although blind, have managed to reach their goals of wanting to help others by donating blood.
This year, they have donated blood three times at blood donation campaigns organised by the relevant agencies here.
Tazlan, 53, and his 33-year-old wife shared their story with New Sarawak Tribune when met at a blood donation drive which was co-organised by the state Health Department, Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC) Kuching District and Tay Motors at Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Community Hall, Padungan here on Saturday (Dec 19).
They said they have always wanted to donate blood ever since but weren’t sure of the process.
“My wife and I operate a massage and reflexology centre and at the same time, provide massage and reflexology services as well. Coincidentally, one of our customers is a blood donor and had asked us whether we wanted to donate blood.
“We were excited about it and decided to join our customer in donating blood. That is how the journey of our blood donation started,” he said.
He also said that his customer would pick him and his wife up and they would go to the blood drive together.
When asked what made him and his wife decided to donate blood, he said that their purpose was to help those in need.
“We want to help those who are in need of blood because we would never know when would be our turn that needs the same help as well,” he said.
He said that they are happy to be able to play a part in helping the society.
“We started donating blood in June this year after the movement control order (MCO) was enforced in March,” he said, adding that they are looking forward to participating in more blood drives in future.
Tazlan, who worked as a logging worker before he was blind, suffered from nerve damage at the age of 25 which has caused him to lose his vision, while his wife had glaucoma at the age of 11.
He was given the opportunity by the State Welfare Department to undergo rehabilitation and vocational training at the Gurney Training Centre for the Blind in Kuala Lumpur.
After his training, he worked at a massage parlour in Batu Lintang here before opening a massage and reflexology centre, which he and his wife have operated for 12 years now.
Tazlan’s TN Massage Centre is located at Floor 2, Block DF 313 at Jalan Batu Kawah. The public can contact Tazlan at 013-8117002 or his wife at 013-8117311 to make appointments.
