KOCHI: A 19-year-old girl was bought back to life through an advanced stem cell surgery that successfully cured her of leukaemia.
The stem cells were provided by Abin Saji, an Electronics and Instrumentation student at the KMEA Engineering College.
Abin had participated in the stem cell donation camp conducted by the college authorities, in association with Dathri, a Bangalore-based organisation that promotes stem cell donation.
The girl, who had registered her name with Dathri, found Abin’s stem cell sample matching with hers.
Only one in 10,000 people would have their stem cells matching with that of another person. Abin accepted the request right away, and the stem cell donation was carried out at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) in the presence of his parents and relatives.
Both the stem cell donation and the surgery were performed by AIMS clinical oncology department head Dr Neeraj Siddarth.
A few months ago, Akshay Krishnan, a student of the same college and a classmate of Abin, had donated his stem cells to a 29-year-old native of Bangalore. Akshay, a resident of Eramalloor in Alappuzha, is the youngest stem cell donor in the State.
The organisers of the stem cell donation camp are happy for being an inspiration to others.