KOCHI: Shreemali Balasooriya, 6, from Sri Lanka is enjoying a new lease of life following stem cell transplant. The donor was Dr Kanmani Kannan, 23, the first woman stem cell donor in Kerala. The child who was diagnosed with thalassemia, a blood disorder, two months after she was born, underwent blood stem cell transplant in a hospital in Bangalore in May 2017. It was also the first international successful stem cell donation from the state. The child's family met her saviour at a function organised by DATRI, the national stem cell registry, and Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences here on Thursday. Dr Kanmani, who studied in Amrita, had registered there as a donor.
It was an unforgettable moment for the family who attended the event, 'Sahaja, ' held at Amrita Hospital, where the compassionate gesture of Dr. Kanmani was acknowledged. After the child's family came to Bangalore from Sri Lanka for better treatment, they found the matching donor - Dr. Kanmani - through DATRI registry. The doctor, born in Tamil Nadu and brought up in Kerala, is now blessed with a 'blood sibling.' "I am looking forward to see more number of women volunteering to donate their blood stem cells. Women should not hold themselves back when such opportunities knock at their doors," she said.
"The probability of finding a matching blood stem cell donor is only one in 10,000 to one in over a million. Kerala has over 3.4 million population, but only around 64,326 potential blood stem cell donors are registered with DATRI. This calls for higher awareness across the state on the importance of saving lives through blood stem cell donation," said Raghu Rajagopal, co-founder and CEO of DATRI, who was present at the function. Swami Purnamritananda Puri, general secretary of Mata Amritanandamayi Math, and Dr. Subash Ranjan graced the occasion.
