First in India, a matrimonial site for cancer survivors

For the first time in India, a youth movement organisation in Kerala would launch a matrimonial website to find life partners for cancer survivors, bringing solace and hope to those who have successfully battled the disease.

The initiative by the St George Orthodox Youth Movement, under the St Mary's Orthodox Parish church at Kumbanad in Pathanamthitta district, is first of its kind in the country, the sources claimed.

The website - www.insightmatrimony.com - which seek to search suitable brides and grooms from among cancer survivors, will be launched on March 9, they said.

A member of the youth movement said the portal is part of their efforts to bring those who suffered from the disease to the mainstream society and help them lead normal family life.

"There is a tendency in our society to keep cancer patients at a distance. Even after they pull through and come to lead a normal life after treatment, often they continue to be looked at as patients, not as normal human beings," the coordinator of the programme, Nithin Chacko Thomas, told PTI.

"This attitude even denies them chances of getting married and leading a normal life. All recovered patients, irrespective of their family and financial background, face the problem," he said.

Thomas said such problems would not arise if their partners were also well aware of the disease.

Anybody, aged between 20 to 35 and has recovered from the disease, can register with the portal free of cost.

"The fear of recurrence of disease is the main thing which pulls most of the people away from alliances with the recovered cancer patients. If both the persons know the pangs of the disease, they can easily understand each other and become perfect partners," he said.

The 40-member organisation has so far spent Rs one lakh in creating the website. Besides this, the organisation is also planning a host of other programmes under their 'Cancer Treatment Mission'.

Financial support for chemotherapy of children, treatment aid for adult patients and mass awareness campaigns are also on the cards, he said.

The website will be launched by Additional Director General of Police K Padmakumar at a function at the church premises. Eminent oncologist V P Gangadharan and Philipose Mar Chrysostom, Senior Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma church will participate, he added.