A group of teenagers have got a new lease of life in the form of kidneys donated by their parents.
On Thursday, the children and their parents took part in an awareness programme at a city hospital where the transplant surgeries have happened over the span of the last two years.
One of the recipients is Warisha Khan, 14.
In her case, what started as a urinal problem in 2017 was eventually diagnosed as chronic kidney failure.
Late last month, she underwent a kidney transplant at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute. The donor was her mother, Farhana Kamar.
“When we were told about the transplant and the doctors suggested I donate, we met with stiff resistance from our family. But seeing my daughter suffer was worse. I heeded the advice of the doctors and went ahead. I am glad that I did,” said Farhana.
Warisha lives with her parents in Uttar Panchannagram near Science City. “Both my wife and daughter are doing fine,” said father Asjad Khan.
Doctors at the programme said that lack of awareness was the biggest stumbling block in such donations.
“If parents came forward to donate their kidneys, their wards would benefit in many ways. The waiting time can be reduced and the chances of the transplanted kidney performing well are greater if it comes from one of the parents,” said Rajiv Sinha, a paediatric nephrologist with CMRI.
“Many people fear that they will not be able to work as they used to after donating a kidney. But doctors will go ahead with the surgery only when they are sure that the donor is fit enough and that the transplant will not scuttle an active life,” said Sinha.
Pradip Chakraborty, the head of the department of renal science at CMRI, who led the surgeries, said: “Transplants in children are usually more successful ones.”
The CMRI has tied up with the Institute of Child Health for kidney transplants, said the spokesperson of the Ekbalpore hospital.
