Religion of Humanity: Kidney swap saves lives of Hindu, Muslim patients in Uttar Pradesh

The mutual consent of both the families and the efforts of the doctors paid off, and lives were saved by giving kidney to each other's patient at Nutima Hospital on Garh Road.

Time of despair

Mohd Afsar Ali, a resident of Amroha, was suffering from neurological ailments for some time. He needed an urgent kidney transplant. His brother Akbar Ali wanted to donate his kidney but his kidney did not match.

Ankur Nehra, a resident of Modinagar, and his family got a similar disappointment. Ankur's kidneys stopped working and his mother Anita's kidneys did not match.

But fate brought both the families together.

Swap and hopes of survival

Doctors said that Anita can donate a kidney to the officer and Ankur can be transplanted Akbar's kidney. Kidney specialist Dr. Sandeep Kumar Garg, Urologist Dr. Shaleen Sharma and Dr. Sharat Chandra Garg performed the transplant by swap method. The surgeries were successful and both patients are now healthy.

Both the families set an example of Hindu Muslim brotherhood by donating a kidney to each other's family

Hindu-Muslim bonhomie

People of both the families say that when the people around came to know that Hindus and Muslims are going to donate each other's kidneys, they were surprised.

Talking to us, Ali said, “The people of the village were surprised, saying you are a Muslim and he is a Hindu.”

He said that many people also advised him not to donate a kidney, but he stood by his decision. “It is the humanity that Hindus should serve for Muslims and Muslims for Hindus,” he said.

Meanwhile, similar questions were being asked to the Nehra family in Modinagar. Ankur Nehra said, “It is going on in our country that Hindus and Muslims are different.”

He said that people were surprised that both the families have agreed to take such a step. He said, “Our organs have no religion, what do they know about Hindus and Muslims, we have made it.”

His mother, Anita, said that she was not at all worried that the two families followed different religions, “I don't care one percent that they are Muslims and we are Hindus.”

Dharma of a doctor

Dr Sanjeev Kumar Garg of Nutima Hospital, who was involved in the nine-hour surgery, said that as a doctor, the religion of the patients does not matter to him. He said, “We knew that they belonged to different religions, but we also knew that they would agree to the operation because they were in a lot of pain and used to get dialysis twice a week.”