24 years after kidney transplant, she flew to Bengaluru to thank doctor

BENGALURU: Not many come searching for a doctor who’s responsible for their second birth. Ranjana Singh, 42, however, flew to the city in search of the doctor who supervised her kidney transplant 24 years ago.
Ranjana, who lived a normal life for 24 years and is a mother of two children, felt it was high time she thanked her doctor. She was keen on meeting nephrologist Dr S Sundar, currently working with Manipal Hospital, who changed the course of her life.She searched about him online and flew from Mumbai to Bengaluru with her family to meet him.
Suffering from chronic renal failure when she was barely 17, Ranjana underwent a kidney transplant at Lakeside Hospital, Bengaluru, in 1994. A couple of months after the procedure, the Human Organ Transplant Act was implemented which banned exchange of organs for money.
“She was lucky to have undergone the transplant early... There was no law those days. A system of paying the donor by bank draft was in place until the rules were put in place in 1995,” said Dr Sundar.
In 1993, her family, then based in Jharkhand, took her to Vellore, from where she was referred to Bengaluru. “I don’t remember much about the donor. All I know is that he was in need of money and his kidney matched with mine. Life has been normal after that, except that I’ve been advised to restrict myself to home-cooked food only,” she said.
However, owing to stigma, she did not disclose her medical condition, even to her husband, for many years. It came to light only when she was carrying her first child.
Ranjana is aware of the laws now. “I’m sure it’s not easy to find a donor now. At the same time, the law is required to prevent kidney sale rackets,” she added.