KOZHIKODE: When Amjad Rahman boarded a late-night flight from the UAE to Kochi on Sunday, he carried — more than luggage — the hope of saving a 10-year-old boy’s life. The 34-year-old is now the miracle that doctors and family members, of a child he has never met, have been desperately praying for.
The boy, whose family wishes to keep his identity anonymous, has been fighting a rare and aggressive blood disorder. His doctors at Amrita Hospital, Ernakulam, had only one solution: A stem-cell transplant. The chance of finding a compatible donor is one in a million. Despite months of searching across Kerala, no match had surfaced.
Then came the twist of fate. Medical teams went back to samples collected during a 2024 blood stem cell donation drive in Mampokkam, Malappuram. Amjad of Mukkam, Kozhikode, had provided his sample at the camp before moving abroad for work.
“When the doctors called to inform me that I was a match, I didn’t even think twice,” Amjad told TNIE over call, just hours before boarding his flight. “I knew immediately this was god’s will. If my blood can save a child’s life, what greater blessing can I ask for?”
For Amjad, who works at a private company in UAE, the decision was deeply personal. He recalls his parents teaching him from childhood that helping others is the highest duty. “My father always used to say: ‘Son, leave behind kindness, not wealth.’ Those words inspired me when I heard about the boy,” he said.
“We had lost hope,” a close relative said. “Doctors told us the chances were slim. When we heard about Amjad, it felt like god had sent him just for us.”
Amjad’s fiancée and extended family stand by his decision. “They told me, ‘Go, this is your duty.’ Their support gives me strength,” he said.
On Monday, Amjad walked into Amrita Hospital, where doctors will begin a week-long process of extracting and transplanting his stem cells into the young patient.
Both donor and recipient will be under strict medical supervision. If successful, the procedure could give the boy a chance to live a normal, healthy life again.