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Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: Two years after an Amritsar couple lost their 39-day-old daughter to a heart ailment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cited their example during the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ program to highlight the importance of organ donation.
Talking to this newspaper over the phone, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu who works as an agriculture development officer with the Punjab government in Amritsar, said, “Our daughter Ababad Kaur was born on October 20, 2020. She was a healthy child as she weighed four kgs at the time of her birth. She was diagnosed with vein of Galen Malformations (VOGM), a rare disease, due to which her heart got enlarged. When she was 24 days old, she suffered a heart attack. We were referred to PGIMER at Chandigarh, where the doctors said they can’t operate on her as she was too small.
She again suffered a cardiac arrest and died.” “We then decided to donate her organs but the doctors told us that only her kidneys can be donated as she is too small. We then went ahead with that,” he said, adding, “No family member objected to our decision; rather, they supported us.’’
Vein of Galen Malformation (VOGM), a rare blood vessel malformation in the brain, develops before birth and may be found during pregnancy or very soon after birth. This condition affects a large vein deep at the base of the brain. The malformation causes oxygen-rich blood to flow directly through this vein away from the brain instead of delivering blood to surrounding brain tissues. This rush of blood away from the brain puts pressure on the heart and lungs, often causing congestive heart failure or pulmonary hypertension.
The couple has a five-year-old son named Sarbuland Singh. The family got surprised and emotional when PM Modi called them up in the context of their daughter’s kidneys being donated. “PM Modi called us up and spoke to us for about ten minutes and told us that the nation is very proud of the family as we are following gurus’ teaching. My daughter made us proud and at the same time very emotional,’’ said Sandhu.
A letter written by Dr Ashish Sharma, head of the department of renal transplant surgery in PGIMER, to Sandhu on January 5, 2021, states, “I would like to thank you for your generosity in allowing PGIMER team to retrieve both kidneys from Ababat Kaur Sandhu who was born with defects which were incompatible with life.
The kidneys taken from the young child were transplanted successfully in an 18-year-old male from a village near Patiala. The boy was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2015 and has been on dialysis since then.”In another letter, Prof Ashok Kumar, additional medical superintendent of PGIMER, wrote to Sandhu on January 5, 2021, that the institute feels that the noble act of the family will motivate others to do the same.
Teenager got new lease of life from dead infant
In 2020, after losing their 39-day-old daughter to a rare heart ailment, an Amritsar-based couple donated her kidneys which were later successfully transplanted into an 18-year-old male boy, on dialysis since 2015. The decision was lauded by their family and medical experts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cited their example during the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme to highlight the importance of organ donation.
CHANDIGARH: Two years after an Amritsar couple lost their 39-day-old daughter to a heart ailment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cited their example during the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ program to highlight the importance of organ donation.
Talking to this newspaper over the phone, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu who works as an agriculture development officer with the Punjab government in Amritsar, said, “Our daughter Ababad Kaur was born on October 20, 2020. She was a healthy child as she weighed four kgs at the time of her birth. She was diagnosed with vein of Galen Malformations (VOGM), a rare disease, due to which her heart got enlarged. When she was 24 days old, she suffered a heart attack. We were referred to PGIMER at Chandigarh, where the doctors said they can’t operate on her as she was too small.
She again suffered a cardiac arrest and died.” “We then decided to donate her organs but the doctors told us that only her kidneys can be donated as she is too small. We then went ahead with that,” he said, adding, “No family member objected to our decision; rather, they supported us.’’googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Vein of Galen Malformation (VOGM), a rare blood vessel malformation in the brain, develops before birth and may be found during pregnancy or very soon after birth. This condition affects a large vein deep at the base of the brain. The malformation causes oxygen-rich blood to flow directly through this vein away from the brain instead of delivering blood to surrounding brain tissues. This rush of blood away from the brain puts pressure on the heart and lungs, often causing congestive heart failure or pulmonary hypertension.
The couple has a five-year-old son named Sarbuland Singh. The family got surprised and emotional when PM Modi called them up in the context of their daughter’s kidneys being donated. “PM Modi called us up and spoke to us for about ten minutes and told us that the nation is very proud of the family as we are following gurus’ teaching. My daughter made us proud and at the same time very emotional,’’ said Sandhu.
A letter written by Dr Ashish Sharma, head of the department of renal transplant surgery in PGIMER, to Sandhu on January 5, 2021, states, “I would like to thank you for your generosity in allowing PGIMER team to retrieve both kidneys from Ababat Kaur Sandhu who was born with defects which were incompatible with life.
The kidneys taken from the young child were transplanted successfully in an 18-year-old male from a village near Patiala. The boy was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2015 and has been on dialysis since then.”In another letter, Prof Ashok Kumar, additional medical superintendent of PGIMER, wrote to Sandhu on January 5, 2021, that the institute feels that the noble act of the family will motivate others to do the same.
Teenager got new lease of life from dead infant
In 2020, after losing their 39-day-old daughter to a rare heart ailment, an Amritsar-based couple donated her kidneys which were later successfully transplanted into an 18-year-old male boy, on dialysis since 2015. The decision was lauded by their family and medical experts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cited their example during the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme to highlight the importance of organ donation.
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