SEVEN CADAVER DONATIONS IN FIVE YEARS
An Ad. A grim milestone. And an important date. 9/11. A coincidence that proved to be life-changing.
It was the morning of 11 September, 2017. The day my daughter and I were going to be launching our very first organ donation awareness event, for a crowd of over 500 people, at one of the most prestigious auditoriums of the city.
As we leafed through the Times of India excitedly for an announcement that we had put in for our event that evening, our eyes fell on the grim milestone that the morning newspaper loudly proclaimed. It read ‘Seven cadaver donations in state in 5 years, still a long way to go.’ Seven organ donations in 5 years. That was about one a year for the preceding five years.
Somehow, it felt like a divine coincidence that the article had appeared exactly on the day of our very first event. It felt like the universe was giving my family and me a message – of making this our mission.
We had been inspired by the story of young road accident victim, Swarnendu Roy, when a green corridor was created for the first time
in the state of West Bengal in November 2016 to enable fast passage of his donated organs. We had decided to launch a campaign to create greater awareness about this miracle of science and act of pious humanity.
We had worked feverishly at organising the event. We had contacted a host of doctors and transplant surgeons, all experts in their respective fields. Chief Nodal Officer, ROTTO, West Bengal, had also agreed to be part of the panel.
Additionally, we had approached singing legend, world-renowned Usha Uthup, who had agreed in spite of a packed schedule because of her deep emotional connect with the subject – she knew the anguish of a family while her son was waitlisted for a kidney.
We had also approached many other influencers of society – authors, counsellors, artists, renowned businessmen, eminent sportspersons, who could inspire people by their sincere belief in the cause. Mr Jonathan Ward, Principal Commercial Officer of the US Consulate, and a registered organ donor for many years, had also agreed to be part of the panel.
The biggest challenge in getting all these doctors and other personalities on board had been to find a single date that would somehow match all their busy itineraries. After a lot of back and forth email, phone calls, messages and meetings, we finally had a date – 9/11. The weight of this coincidence was not lost on anyone. In fact, it felt all the more appropriate – we were going to talk about giving life on the anniversary of an event that has come to epitomise the exact opposite.
One after another, several coincidences took place during the course of that first event. While we had approached Usha Uthup simply because we had wanted her to sing We are the World, a song that we felt would be just fitting for the occasion, and she did give a soul-stirring rendition, but what took us by surprise was the moving personal story she shared. She revealed that her son was a kidney recipient, she spoke of a mother’s anguish and despair while waiting for a kidney donor for her son. She also spoke about how her mother, her brother and her uncles had all donated their eyes when they had passed away. She spoke about how her daughter was herself fully immersed in the cause of organ donation awareness.
We had connected a true-life story on stage. The family of a 22-year old girl, Surbhi Barot, who had a sudden brain haemorrhage and passed away on Christmas Day, had agreed to come all the way from Asansol to inspire us with their story. The recipient of one of her kidneys also agreed to come from the outskirts of Kolkata. We were left in awe and reverence at Surbhi’s mother who choked when she said she could see her daughter alive on stage.
Watching the turnout of over 500 people at our very first event, watching people sign their forms and carry extra forms home for their family, having people ask us when we could organise an awareness event in their office, gave us the conviction to keep walking on this path and creating awareness.
And then, come 2018 – eighteen donations in a single year in West Bengal – a quantum leap, the result of a vibrant climate in the state, brought about by determined government action and the effort of many NGOs and individuals.
I feel blessed to have been a close witness to this encouraging environment. I feel blessed to have witnessed the many beautiful stories of humaneness and courage that exist in the world. I feel blessed to have come face to face and interacted with mothers, husbands, brothers, sisters and wives of deceased donors on the one hand, and with recipients of organs and their families, on the other.
In these four years I have learnt that in organ donation, death and life co-exist closely like two sides of the same coin, covering the entire saga, the entire spectrum of human emotions. There is trauma, grief and sorrow on one side. On the other, there is relief, hope, gratitude, joy.
I know that the road I have to cover is long, and I know the challenges are many. I know that I am just a tiny piece of a very large jigsaw. But I also know the fulfilment of being that tiny piece.
