In a strange yet poignant tale of love and bonding, a ‘sister’ from Ahmedabad sent a ‘rakhi’ to someone in Rajasthan who she considers her brother, for her own brother’s hands are now his.
Jagdev Singh, 23, a resident of Sriganganagar in Rajasthan, was working at a farm tubewell in 2019 when the motor malfunctioned. It being a Sunday, there was nobody around, so Jagdev decided to look into the fault himself. As he tried to connect the electric wires to the motor, he got a major shock. The current from overhead high-tension wire was such that he got flung from the spot with severe burns on his hands and legs.
To save his life, both his hands and legs were amputated after a fortnight of the fateful incident. A ray of hope came in his life when a family of a brain dead youth in Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad consented to donate his hands in 2021. The youth had sustained severe head injuries in a road accident.
The hands of the Ahmedabad girl’s brother were donated to Jagdev. Thus, while her brother is no more, her bond of love continues as rakhi would adorn Jagdev’s wrist on Rakshabandhan every year.
The sister of the donor considers Jagdev her brother as he now lives with transplanted hands of her young brother. Jagdev also honours the thread of love sent by her.
Jagdev said that he was still to master the new limbs completely, but the hands and artificial legs had given him a second chance at life, including employment and self-reliance. Another pair of hands donated in 2022, that went to Pune in Maharashtra, are also getting rakhi, said the organ donation coordinators at Civil Hospital, as the sister of the deceased is in contact with the family.
Dr Rakesh Joshi, medical superintendent of Civil Hospital, said so far six pairs of hands have been donated from the hospital, and all have their own stories to tell. “While the hand donation is relatively very less compared to other organs, the stories of rakhi connecting the two families are heart-warming,” he said.
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