6-year-old Indian girl donated organs to save three lives in UAE, Saudi Arabia
- 20 Feb 2020
Iman Abdullah Al Ali, Staff Reporter
Losing a child can be gut-wrenching for parents devastated by the irreparable loss but in the case of Indian girl Divyasri, her mother and father can take considerable solace in the fact that her short life did not go in vain: she donated her organs to save three lives in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Divyasri, the only child of her parents, who was suffering from heart and pulmonary blood pressure problems, died at the age of six recently.
Divyasri’s one kidney was transplanted in Dubai and another in Abu Dhabi, while the liver was transplanted in Saudi Arabia.
With tears of joy, pride, and gratitude, the family of the girl Divyasri met the family of the child Adam, who got a kidney from the deceased child. Both families spent expressive moments, which reflected the sacrifice for giving others a better life.
Divyasri was suffering from heart and pulmonary blood pressure problems, her mother Kirti said. The mother added that she and her husband were keen on registering in the Ministry of Health and Prevention’s Hayat App for Organ Donation so to give hope to many patients on the waiting lists, noting that she saw her daughter through the child Adam.
She told the story of her daughter Divyasri, who made it a habit to give and was always keen on giving whatever money she had to workers on the street.
Sometimes, she took money from her mother’s purse to give it to others, though she was not able to differentiate between Dhs10 and Dhs100. It was as if she was born to donate and give others a better life. But the child continued to give even after she died; she was able to give a better life to three people, though she was no older than 6 years.
Adam, who received a kidney from Divyasri, is a 7-year-old boy suffering from kidney failure. He used to visit Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital 3 to 4 times a week and spend around 3 to 5 hours on the dialysis machine. His continuous visits to the hospital deprived him of the chance to attend school regularly. Now that he was given a kidney and a kidney transplant was performed on him in Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital in collaboration with the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, his life changed forever. Adam, who enrolled in school, is aware of the child who gave him a piece of her body to help him rejoice in his new life.
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Aruna Kumar, Divyasri’s father, said: “Doctors at Sheikh Khalifa Hospital explained to us about the mechanism and importance of the postmortem organ donation programme and how organ donation could save and change others’ lives. After they answered all our questions, we were prompted to think it over and take a decision. It was really a difficult decision. We were full of grief over the departure of our daughter but had a strong desire to help save others’ lives.
“A prompt decision had to be taken to enable doctors to transplant the organs, which remain good for transplantation only for a certain period of time. The idea was strange because no one in our family had a postmortem organ donation before. I thought a lot about it and came to the conclusion that our decision may give an opportunity for a better life to a number of generations. The person who gets the organ will grow up, get married and have children, so that my daughter can make a difference in his life and this helps alleviate my agony over her departure”, Kirti said.
She stressed that awareness campaigns to educate the community about the importance of postmortem organ donation were organised lately. A lecture about this was given recently in an Indian school and the organisers were overwhelmed with joy at the people’s interaction.
Adam's mother confirmed that his life changed greatly, as he was on the waiting list for nearly 4 years. “He was unable to drink water or go to school and play with children, and we were not able to donate a kidney to him because his blood type was not compatible with ours. We were keen on knowing the donor’s relatives in order to write a letter of thanks and gratitude to them. It was great to have the opportunity to meet the girl’s parents. We were very impressed,” she said.
Dr. Farhad Kheradmand Janahi, Assistant Professor in Surgery at the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, affirmed that after the death of Divyasri’s brain, “we could make her heart beat for two weeks to preserve the organs and enable her family to make its decision. As soon as a decision was taken, the lives of three people could be saved, he said, adding that a kidney was transplanted in Dubai and another in Abu Dhabi, while the liver was transplanted in Saudi Arabia.
Kidney transplantations were performed In Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital and Al Madina Hospital, he said, adding that 25 cases of people who need transplantations are on the waiting list and that around 2,500 people are suffering from kidney failure.