Wives donate kidneys, save husbands

Two willing but incompatible kidney donors, both wanting to save their husbands’ lives, made a successful donor-recipient pair with each other’s husband at a city hospital early this month.

The two donors Nazia Habib, 26, and Vimala Dwivedi, 40, had mismatched blood group with their husbands.

And since the donor of the same blood group was not available within the patients’ own family, their hunt for a compatible donor ended when the hospital found out that Nazia’s and Vimala’s blood group and other vitals were suited for a kidney paired donation.
This enables two incompatible recipients to receive healthy, more compatible kidneys from each other’s relatives.

In a meeting arranged by Max hospital in south Delhi, where the two transplants took place, both patients’ families agreed to help each other.

Nazia’s husband Mohd Shamim was on dialysis for the past two years. His agriculture business in Kanpur suffered due to his prolonged illness.

“I never thought that I am donating to a Hindu or a Muslim. Vimala, who donated her kidney to my husband, is next to Allah for me and a life saviour,” Nazia said.

More efficient

“Medical innovations have now made ABO incompatible transplantation possible,” said Dr Dinesh Khullar, director of kidney transplant medicine.

This is a method that permits more efficient use of available organs regardless of ABO blood type.

“It breaks blood group barrier to transplantation and paired kidney donation is another effective way of expanding the donor pool,” he added.

Paired-kidney exchange (PKE) is used in western countries to increase donor pool. In India, however, there are not many centres involved in the PKE programme.

Vimala said that when she approached the hospital, she found out about Nazia, who had B+ blood group and could donate kidneys to her husband Ramesh Dwivedi.

On the other hand, Vimala’s blood group and other vitals matched with Mohd Shamim.
On April 9, the patients and donors were taken in for surgery. The hospital authority said that both donors and recipients were discharged last week.

“We have seen cases of suitable family members denying to donate their kidneys as they think that it may cause health problems later. Kidney donation is very safe and by donating it to your kith and kin, there is no harm and one can lead a normal and healthy life,” said Dr Anant Kumar, director of robotics and kidney transplantation.

Vimala said that she has found a “soul sister” in Nazia.“This sindoor that I apply on my forehead is a precious gift given by Nazia. My husband owes his life to Nazia and she and her family will always be close to us. I am happy and proud that I could save her husband’s life through my kidney,” she said.