Kidney swap unites Hindu, Muslim families

In a rare gesture, a kidney swap was successfully conducted between a Hindu family from Bihar and a Muslim family from Kashmir at a private hospital near here. The surgery was performed by doctors led by Priyadarshi Ranjan, Consultant with Fortis Hospital in Mohali, Punjab.

The families of Manjula Devi from Bihar and Abdul Aziz from Kashmir were looking for suitable donors since the spouses' kidneys were a poor mismatch for each other, the hospital said in a statement.

The families crossed paths within three months after they got themselves registered in a mobile app iKidney which is developed by Ranjan.

After conducting all requisite tests and examinations, experts opined that the kidney of donor Sujeet Kumar (46), husband of Devi (42), was a good match for Aziz. Similarly, the kidney of donor Shazia (50), wife of Aziz (53), was a good match for Devi. Both families agreed to undergo surgeries for a paired kidney exchange.

"Both the families are extremely happy as the patients are recovering and responding well to the post-surgery treatment. This fortunate matching was possible through iKidney app that explores for possible paired kidney exchange between eligible donors and patients," Ranjan told reporters here.

Devi, who received Shazia's kidney, said, "I feel very lucky that we got in touch with Shazia's family. It gives me a great source of strength that humanity, above all religion, is the greatest religion of all." Aziz, who received a kidney from Sujeet Kumar, said: "We now know that helping a human in times of need is the greatest deed for anyone.

Humanity as a religion makes us humane. "What we experienced through this swap is nothing extraordinary but exemplary display of humanity, love and care."This amazing coincidence was made possible by the iKidney app, which has been developed by Ranjan, who is also the Programme Director for Swap Kidney Transplantation and currently runs the busiest kidney Swap programme of the region.