Kottayam: Mar Jacob Murikkan, auxiliary bishop of Pala diocese, will donate his kidney to an ailing youth of Kottakal in Malappuram. Sooraj, 30, who has been undergoing dialysis for the past one-and-a-half years, will get the bishop’s kidney in a transplant surgery to be held at the Lakeshore Hospital, Ernakulam, on June 1.
The tests for the surgery were conducted at the Kottayam medical college hospital. The ethical committee of the state government had agreed to the transplant after interacting with the relatives of the donor and the recipient of the kidney.
Fr. Davis Chiramel, chairman of the Kidney Federation of India, told reporters at the MCH that the federation will collect funds to help the poor family of Sooraj. It was for the first time that a Catholic bishop had agreed to donate his kidney, he said.
Mar Murikkan said that he was happy to be the donor in the ‘Year of Mercy’ declared by the Pope. He was inspired to donate his kidney after hearing the speech of Fr. Davis Chiramel at a Bible convention at Pala two years ago.
