Living 25 years on parents' kidneys

KOLKATA: Twenty-five years ago, Bandana Kundu nee Modak could never have thought that she would have a fulfilling life. Surviving on dialysis, she wasn't sure how long she would live. Today, she is one of the longest surviving recipients of a kidney transplant. And she got it not once, but twice - both the times from her parents.As a 20-year-old, Bandana was a broken girl, already growing tired of dialysis. Then, in a twist of fate her father died, giving new life to her as one of his kidneys was transplanted in Bandana. Fifteen years later, it started to fail and the homemaker from Krishnanagar was given a second birth by her mother. At 66 years, Lakshmi parted with one of her kidneys to pluck daughter Bandana from the jaws of death. If it was not for her parents and Belle Vue Clinic, Bandana would not have been alive today. Belle Vue was the pioneer in kidney transplant in eastern India and Bandana was one of the first in Bengal to undergo the life-saving procedure. In 1988, when doctors of this hospital learnt that Bandana's father Dinanendra Modak was in a coma, they rushed to Krishnanagar and brought him to Kolkata. He was declared brain-dead here, but the doctors realized it could give new hope to his daughter."When the family consented, we immediately retrieved Kundu's kidney and transplanted it to her daughter Bandana who was on dialysis for years," said Belle Vue nephrologist A R Nandi during the celebration of the 25th year of kidney transplant in the hospital on Wednesday. The cadaveric transplant was conducted by a team of doctors including M C Seal.Bandana, who was invited to the event, recalled feeling guilty when she got her new life. "When I came to know that my father's kidney was transplanted in me, I felt guilty as I thought my father had been taken to the hospital for treatment. But the doctors and my family made me understand that my father had gone after giving me a new life," said Bandana. When Bandana's kidney started to fail later on, her mother Lakshmi volunteered to donate one of hers. Now married, the 45-year-old can look back at life and feel happy.During the celebration on Wednesday, doctors Nandi, Pratim Sengupta and A R Dutta emphasized on the need to promote cadaveric transplant. "From the first transplant in 1988, we have conducted more than 1,000 so far. We need to promote cadaveric transplant more so that organs of brain-dead patients can infuse life in other patients," said Pradip Tandon, CEO of Belle Vue Clinic.