Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed a family from Amritsar during ‘Mann Ki Baat’ program to highlight the importance of organ donation. He narrated the story of a family from Amritsar who lost their 39-day-old baby girl due to a fatal disease but saved the life of a young boy by donating her organs. He hailed the parents and stated that he is yet to see such a strong mother and father.
Giving an insight into the story, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu who is father of 39-day-old girl works as an agriculture development officer with the Punjab government in Amritsar. After almost two years of prayer, he along with his wife welcomed a baby girl on 20th October 2020 and named her as Abadat Kaur. She was a healthy child but as days passed by Abadat was diagnosed with a fatal disease called Vein of Galen Malformation (VOGM). Due to this her heart got enlarged and could not be operated as she was too small. When she was just 24-days old, Abadat suffered a heart attack after which she was referred to PGIMER in Chandigarh. On 39th day she again suffered a heart attack and died. This came as a huge shock to the parents but they stood up strong. The family decided to donate her organs so that it could save life of other children. Her kidneys were the only organs that could be donated as she was too young.
Recollecting the story her parents stated, “After Abadat’s death, we decided to donate her organs. No family member objected to our decision; rather, they supported us. We are proud that our little baby girl was able to save life of another person.”
Talking about the disease from which Abadat was suffering. Vein of Galen Malformation is a rare phenomenon that develops in a child before birth or soon after birth. This malfunction causes oxygen-filled blood flows directly through the vein but instead of going to the brain, it delivers blood to surrounding brain tissues. This puts pressure on the brain causes congestive heart failure or pulmonary hypertension.
On 5th January 2021, family received a letter from Dr Ashish Sharma, head of the department of renal transplant surgery in PGIMER revealing how their daughter saved life of another person. He stated that kidneys of Abadat were successfully transplanted in an 18-year-old boy who was detected with kidney failure.
Apart from Abadat, the Amritsar family has a 5-year-old son named Sarbuland Singh. The family also received a call from PM Modi hailing their decision. They stated, “PM Modi called us up and spoke for 10 minutes. He told us that the nation is very proud of the family as we are following gurus’ teaching. My daughter made us proud and at the same time very emotional.’’