Muslim Woman From UP Volunteers To Donate Kidney To Sister's Ailing Hindu Friend In Pune

Amid the cacophony of communal strife, here comes a heart-warming gesture. A Muslim woman from Fatehpur UP, has come forward to donate her kidney to a Hindu woman from Pune (Maharashtra), who has been battling for life for over a year.

TOI

Donor Shamshad Begum (40) and the recipient Aarti (38) both have undergone all required medical examinations. The donor, a native of Raribuzurg village in Bindki tehsil of Fatehpur district, has submitted all the documents required at the district health department, and is now waiting for the nod from the state government's authorization committee for organ transplantation.

The recipient, who is a friend of Shamshad Begum's younger sibling Junaida Khatoon, stays in Pune (Maharashtra).

"I was shocked by the pain being suffered by a person facing death. I underwent the blood group test which matched Aarti's group," said Shamshad Begum.

BCCL/representative image

"I am ready for organ transplant. The religion of a person should always be humanism. It is just a simple sacrifice for a fellow being," she said.

Shamshad Begum, whose husband had expired about ten years ago, stays with her father Zakir Khan and her teenage daughter in Raribuzurg village in Bindki tehsil in Fatehpur district.

The unusual story of two persons, belonging to different faiths and different places, unfolded when Shamshad, during her visit to Mansarovar area in Pune, where her younger sister Junaida Begum lives, met the latter's friend Aarti, who was going for dialysis as both her kidneys had failed. Shamshad, without giving a second thought, decided to donate one kidney to the ailing Aarti.

Later, they went to a hospital to complete the procedure and necessary formalities for donation and transplant.

BCCL/representative image

All the tests have been positive. The hospital authorities said that the blood group of Shamshad has matched with Aarti's group.

"Now a few counselling sessions of my daughter and a final nod from the state government's authorisation committee for organ transplantation remain," said Zakir Khan, Shamshad's father.

He added, "The paperwork for the donation has been completed. Both the families have no objection to the kidney transplant. We have submitted an affidavit in the office of the chief medical officer undertaking that my daughter will give her kidney to Aarti."

Chief medical officer, Fatehpur, Dr Vinay Kumar told TOI that the district health department has received Shamshad's affidavit and all other documents which would now be dispatched to the health directorate for final approval.