On July 19, 2024, Ms. Pallavi Kumar, Executive Director of the MOHAN Foundation (MF), NCR, was invited to be the Chief Guest during the Organ Donation Awareness Meet “Life after Transplant” held at Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi. Ms. Simran Anand and Ms. Sanya Santosh, Programme Officers, MF NCR, accompanied Ms. Kumar.

 

Dr. Deepak Kalra, Senior Director and HOD of Nephrology; Dr. Archana Bajaj, Medical Director; and Dr. Girija Sharma, Chief of Nursing, felicitated Ms. Kumar.

 

The meet was attended by medical practitioners, recipients, donor families, and students of Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. The objectives of the meet were:

• Raising awareness about organ donation

• Encouraging participants to support the noble cause

 

Using a PowerPoint presentation, Ms. Pallavi addressed the following topics:

• What organ donation is and its importance

• Who can be an organ donor

• Organ donation during life and after death

• Brain death and the difference between coma and brain death

• Corneal donation and preserving corneas after death

• The Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994

• How individuals can contribute to this cause

• Myths and facts about organ donation

 

Two short films were included during the session: one featured a testimonial video of a heart recipient, and the other featured a donor family reminiscing.

 

Students from Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, also performed a skit on organ donation titled “Ahsaas.”

 

During the awareness meeting, recipients and donor families shared their personal stories:

• A participant described how his mother's kidney saved his life.

• The husband of the first deceased donor at Fortis Hospital shared their life story and spoke about how he never felt guilty about his decision to donate his beloved wife's organs after she suffered a brain hemorrhage and was deemed brain dead.

• Another participant described how his body rejected his mother's kidney and how his wife stepped forward to donate her kidney to save him.

 

Dr. Deepak Kalra also shared the story of a patient who needs to undergo kidney transplant surgery but is awaiting funds to proceed. During the occasion, Ms. Kumar introduced MOHAN Foundation’s initiative “Anudaan – Making Transplant Affordable.”

 

Close to 60 participants attended the meeting.