: Twenty-three-year-old Tribeni Deka is her father’s ‘hero’, and here is why he calls her that: this petite woman not only donated part of her liver to her father -- Dr. Nirendra Ch. Deka (62) -- but also managed to bring him from Guwahati to Delhi for treatment and arrange 25 units of blood for his operation in a day.
“It’s all thanks to the beautiful people of Delhi,” said Tribeni, a resident of Guwahati.
Tribeni’s father was diagnosed with liver failure a few months ago, and doctors suggested a transplant.
Mounting challenges
“My blood group matches my father’s. So I decided to donate blood, and also bring him to Delhi for the surgery. Sadly, we had no support structure in Delhi, and we came for treatment at Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar,” she said.
The biggest challenge came when doctors said the surgery would require 25 units of blood. When Tribeni approached blood banks in the city, she was, however, turned away.
“Every blood bank had run out of blood because of the dengue epidemic. Time was running out, and every day spent in the city was adding to our expenses. Then a friend told me about LocalCircles Community Network, a community of more than 1,25,000 blood donors,” she says.
Glimmer of hope
“The result left me speechless. Within a few hours, calls started pouring in from donors,” she added.
One of the earliest responders was 22-year-old Shivam Gangwar. He said, “I did it for humanitarian reasons; it did not matter that I did not know her.”
Another donor, Munish Sharma (41), said: “In comparison to locals, people who come from outside Delhi find it more challenging to arrange for blood.”
“I believe in humanity. As humans, we are supposed to help each other,” he added.
In all, there were 25 donors.
