Millions of MGR fans still mourn his death this day in 1987 but very few remember that his niece Leelavathy’s selfless gesture donating one of her kidneys to him had helped in stretching his lifespan by three years. The AIADMK founder and three-time Chief Minister was battling for life in the Brooklyn Hospital in New York and urgently needed a kidney.
Doctors said the best option was to find a live donor among his kin. Elder brother Chakrapani’s son Rajendran and daughter Leelavathy were identified as the most suited.
“I was then living with family at Chelakkara in Kerala. When we heard that chithappa needed a kidney urgently, we rushed to Chennai and reported at the Apollo Hospital for tests to determine suitability. My brother Rajendran and I were chosen. The family decided that I would give my kidney and Rajendran would be the standby. I was mighty thrilled at that opportunity to help my iconic chithappa, who has been famous all along for his generosity”, recalled Leelavathy, now 65. She was barely 34 when the transplant surgery was performed on December 19, 1984, at the Brooklyn Hospital.
Rajendran and Leelavathy were flown to Brooklyn about 10 days prior to the surgery for the final tests to determine the donor. With the tests confirming Leelavathy as the most suited, she was readied for the critical procedure that could give the critically ill MGR a fresh lease of life. “We were in the operation theatre, separated by only a curtain while the transplant surgery took place. It took about four hours. Chithappa had been unconscious, so he did not know anything about the transplant. Even the surgeons there were surprised seeing the pace of my recovery. I was discharged from the hospital in just three days. Even my husband, a medical doctor, was pleasantly surprised at my quick recovery”, Leelavathy said with a broad smile.
“I cried when chithappa’s official staff and doctors congratulated me. They were tears of joy. That was the best part of my life”. It appears that MGR was not aware who the kidney donor was. His wife and close associates kept this information away from him. On return to Chennai, he went through his medical papers and also the newspapers of the previous weeks. It was only then that MGR found out that niece Leelavathy was the donor.
“I was at my Chelakkara home when chithappa called me. I took the next flight and reached his place in Ramavaram. He hugged me and broke down. We cried. Composing himself, he summoned the photographer and had our pictures taken”. Leelavathy’s eyes turned moist as she recalled those poignant moments.
It does not appear that Leelavathy received any big reward for her sacrifice; which was not surprising since MGR’s wife Janaki had never really encouraged strong ties with his brother Chakrapani’s family. Hardly anyone bothered about the kidney donor — neither from the MGR household nor his party; but then Leelavathy was a contented woman as her husband Dr Ravindranathan was a successful medical practitioner in Chelakkara. “The great satisfaction that I had given my kidney to help chithappa remains as the biggest reward in my life. What more do I want?”
Dr Ravindranathan died in 1999. Their first daughter lives in Muscat with her family that includes a son and a daughter. The younger daughter is in Chennai and has two sons. “I live with my younger daughter and travel to Muscat once a year”, said Leelavathy, insisting that hers has been a contended life. And perhaps that’s why she has had no health issues even though 31 years passed since she gave away her left kidney.
How’s her equation with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa? “She is a marvellous person, truly the successor to the indelible MGR legacy. When she visited us to condole my father’s demise, she complimented me for donating kidney to chithappa. She was so gracious”.
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