Chandan Yadav: On road to recovery

Riding on a wave of emotion set off by a report on him in Metro three months ago, 21-year-old Chandan Yadav, a social worker who had lost both his kidneys, is now recuperating at SSKM Hospital.

?After the story appeared, people from all walks of life, the government and the SSKM Hospital authorities came forward to save Chandan,? said Utpal Roy, general secretary of Diganta, the social welfare organisation for which Chandan worked.

He had saved the lives of several children suffering from critical ailments by donating blood. But when he himself fell ill and lost both his kidneys to a chronic renal failure, help was not forthcoming.

His father Ramashankar, 52, had decided to donate one of his kidneys, but neither the family nor Diganta members had a clue how the cost of the treatment could be raised.

The transplant alone would have cost around Rs 60,000. That apart, Rs 1.1 lakh would have been required for post-operative medication in the first year and another Rs 50,000 in the second.

?The health department had waived the bed fees for Chandan and the SSKM authorities did not charge anything for the transplant, that took place on March 28,? said Roy, of Diganta.

To help the Yadavs meet other expenses related to Chandan?s treatment, Bhanumoti Das Sharma donated Rs 25,000.

?I took a bank loan to donate the money. I?m happy that he is recovering,? said Bhanumoti, who had never met Chandan before.

?She was one of the many who went out of their way to save this dynamic social worker,? Roy told Metro. ?We are amazed at the way people who never knew Chandan came forward to help him at the most critical moment of his life.?

Nephrologist R. Pandey, who conducted the surgery, said Chandan may be released in two weeks.