Guests at wedding sign up for stem cell donation

  • | Saturday | 15th December, 2018

Blood stem cell donation can be a cure for patient suffering from blood cancer, thalasemia and 100 other blood disorders but there must be a match in HLA typing of both donors and patients for a successful blood stem cell transplantation. Her Bengaluru-based husband Harish had heard about blood stem cell donation a few years ago, and chose this special day to finally sign on the dotted line. Something similar happens in unrelated blood stem cell donation, where a complete unknown person becomes a ‘blood-relative’ for the patient suffering from fatal blood disordering in the form of a donor. “I actually wanted it that way only,” said Dr Niranjani, adding, “I want people to become aware of the process which is completely safe. NAGPUR: Every couple want their wedding to be unique, something that guests will remember for a long time.

NAGPUR: Every couple want their wedding to be unique, something that guests will remember for a long time. And that indeed was the case with Dr V Niranjani and GV Harish on Friday in the city, where a desk was set up for guests to register as blood stem cell donors.Even though the festivities had just started on Friday morning, a few of the guests, including the groom, signed up with NGO Datri’s (Sanskrit word for donor) blood stem cell donor registry.“I registered in 2012 itself,” said the bride Dr Niranjani, who is pursuing PG studies in medical field from Mysuru, while clarifying on why she wasn’t lining up at the desk. Her Bengaluru-based husband Harish had heard about blood stem cell donation a few years ago, and chose this special day to finally sign on the dotted line. “It was she who first told me about it,” said Harish. “While I am a regular blood donor, I never came across any health camp where the registration for blood stem cell was being done.”For Dr Niranjani, having the donor registry desk set up at her wedding venue was a foregone conclusion. It all started almost a decade ago, when her mother Meenakshi Vijaykumar registered as a donor. “In 2008, there was a camp held at Hadas High School here and I registered. In fact, my daughter also registered in the same year but her donor card never came. She registered yet again a few years later. In 2012, I got a call from Datri that there is a matching recipient and they asked if I was willing to proceed. I was very excited and went to Chennai to complete the donation formalities,” said Meenakshi, who was around 50 years-old at that time. Her donation ultimately resulted in saving another human life.When Meenakshi suggested to her daughter that the wedding venue can host a donor registration desk as well, the bride-to-be was all for it. “I actually wanted it that way only,” said Dr Niranjani, adding, “I want people to become aware of the process which is completely safe. I find it surprising that sometimes I have to play the role of a counsellor when asking people to register for this. Why should one even have to think twice about registering to save a life?”The Sharma family was the first to register at Datri’s desk. “I think wedding is the perfect place for such a health camp to be set up. People are in joyous mood and are open to being made aware of what this is all about,” said Ajit Sharma. His wife Chitra, who’s also the bride’s aunt, said, “It’s a noble cause and we all feel proud to be part of it.”There are almost 2,000 families registered with Datri who are in need of a matching blood stem cell donor to save their lives. Raghu Rajgopla, CEO and co-founder of Datri, “Wedding brings two strangers together to build a beautiful bond for life. Something similar happens in unrelated blood stem cell donation, where a complete unknown person becomes a ‘blood-relative’ for the patient suffering from fatal blood disordering in the form of a donor. Blood stem cell donation can be a cure for patient suffering from blood cancer, thalasemia and 100 other blood disorders but there must be a match in HLA typing of both donors and patients for a successful blood stem cell transplantation.

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