In a rare example of camaraderie, a 40-year-old lady from Kolkata donated her kidney to save the life of 32-year-old colleague who was suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) at Fortis Hospital & Kidney Institute (FHKI) recently. The patient from Ranchi was advised by the doctors to undergo Kidney Transplantation urgently as her health situation deteriorated. Both the donor and recipient were working in an IT firm in Bengaluru where the latter was subordinate of the former.
The patient – Ms Marshneil Sinha – has been undergoing treatment at the hospital under Dr Upal Sengupta, Consultant, Department of Nephrology for more than 4 years. She was undergoing dialysis regularly while everyone waited for a suitable donor. None from her immediate family could donate due to medical issues. Having known her long ordeal, Ms Ditipriya Das, her senior at office, decided to donate one of her kidneys to save her from a painful agony. She travelled to Kolkata from Bengaluru for all tests. Adequate counselling was provided to the donor family and were made to understand complications that may arise post kidney donation before they agreed for the donation.
Talking about this unique case, Dr Upal Sengupta said, “It is one of the rarest instance across the world when a co-worker comes ahead to donate her kidney and save life of a fellow colleague. The surgery went well, and both the donor and recipient are doing fine. This donation has reposed faith back in humanity. Such altruistic example gives a fillip to the cause cadaver organ donation. We hope that this inspiring tale of solidarity will entice people to pledge for organ donation. So many lives can live a better life if we can donate our organs after we are gone.”
Speaking on the challenges, Dr Sengupta said, “We provided adequate counselling to the donor and her family so that they understand repercussion as well as complication that may arise following kidney donation. They were very cooperative and supportive once their concerns were clarified amply. We also had to undertake lot legal formalities as the recipient and donor were from different domicile states. All necessary permissions were taken from respective state governments and concerned authorities.”
