Thalassaemia survivor from Hyderabad meets her donor

Kochi: It was an emotional moment for 10-year-old Manasvi Karamchedu and her parents from Hyderabad when they met the person who saved the girl’s life. 

Manasvi, a Thalassemia survivor, met Shabas T.S., a 23-year-old electrical engineer from Kochi at a function organised by Datri, a non-profit Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry here on Thursday. Shabas donated blood stem cells to save the girl.

As per international registry protocol, identity of donor and receiver has to be kept anonymous for a year. As both donor and recipient expressed a desire to meet each other, Datri organised the event. Manasvi was diagnosed with Thalassemia Major when she was just five-months-old. As doctors suggested a blood stem cell transplant, parents of the girl registered her name with Datri and were waiting for a matching donor. 

Shabas, an engineering student, registered with Datri during a camp conducted in the college in 2015. Within a year he received a call from Datri informing him that he was a perfect match for Manasvi.

“I was very happy to hear that I was a potential match for someone. I am thankful to my parents for their support. I can say with pride that I experienced one of the biggest joys of my life in meeting Manasvi,” he said. 

A very emotional Kiran Kumar, Manasvi’s father said, “I do not have words to express my feelings. We have waited for long to meet the person whose selfless act has gifted us the life of my daughter.”

Dr Neeraj Sidharthan of department of medical oncology and haematology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences while speaking on the occasion said that for patients with fatal blood disorders the last resort is stem cell transplant. 

As many as 50,246 donors have registered with Datri as potential blood stem cell donors from Kerala. “As a registry, Datri is motivated to spread awareness on the importance of registering as a blood stem cell donor so that many more lives can be saved,” said Raghu Rajagopal, CEO of Datri.