This husband and wife share a living part of each other in their bodies. Shakil Ahmed Khan, 33, donated his kidney to his wife Nahid Akhtar, 30, in a surgery that lasted over three hours on Thursday last week. Very much in love, Shakil and Nahid are equal in every sense now.
"I could not have watched my wife die. After she developed abdominal tuberculosis six months ago while on dialysis, it scared the daylights out of me," he said. "I was desperate to donate my kidney and help her; but the police and my family were the biggest hurdles in our life."
Shakil fled from Gorakhpur two years ago with his wife Nahid in tow and headed for the cities, running from pillar to post, seeking help for a transplant.
Theirs was a difficult case, the couple reminisce. A kidney transplant that could have happened in two weeks took almost two years due to parental opposition. Soon after marriage, Nahid started falling ill.
Shakil said a local doctor administered a wrong injection after she developed fever. "Her kidneys continued to deteriorate... We knocked on the doors of many hospitals in Delhi, Kolkata and later Mumbai... but none agreed for a transplant without my family's consent."
Eight months down the marriage, it dawned upon Shakil's family that Nahid would require a kidney transplant. "I was sent back to my mother's place. I pleaded with my parents and siblings to donate a kidney to me, but none would agree," Nahid said.
Nahid's own blood relatives did not bail her out and her in-laws too turned their back on her. They warned Shakil not to even think of donating his kidney to Nahid. "My entire family was against me. My relatives weren't supportive. To my utter shock, they asked me to divorce Nahid and consider a second marriage."
Before the transplant could go through smoothly, Shakil and Nahid encountered endless hurdles. "I could not obtain an NOC from the police at Gorakhpur for almost six months as my family and relatives were against my decision. My family's consent was out of question," Shakil said.
The Human Organs Transplant Act, 1994, demands an entire family's consent for any member to donate his/her kidney to another member.
"In case a man volunteers to donate his kidney to his wife, a special approval could be given. But hospitals they approached, be it the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi or the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, the hospital authorisation committees would refuse to conduct a transplant," Dr Bharat Shah, nephrologist at private-run Global Hospitals in Parel, said.
Shah recounted it was a precarious situation where brave action was required instead of going by the books. "We put the case before our hospital authorisation committee that includes a state-government nominee. They understood the gravity of the situation and as a special consideration forwarded it for the state's approval. The directorate of health services in Maharashtra approved the case for transplant," Shah said.
Only one in 100 patients wanting a kidney transplant actually end up getting one from a cadaver in Mumbai. "Most times, patients can't find a suitable live donor within the family. Getting the organ from brain-dead patients is difficult. Usually, live donors are wives or aged mothers. Also, parents are unwilling to accept kidneys from their children. There is immense social pressure involved in donating within the family," Dr Prashant Rajput, consultant nephrologist at Global Hospital, said.
According to statistics obtained from the Zonal Transplant Co-ordination Committee, Mumbai, 3,983 people are waitlisted to receive a kidney in 27 hospitals across Mumbai. At least 39 cadaver transplants have been done in the city since January. Last year, too, 35 cadaver transplants took place.
The need for kidney transplant in India is immense. Up to 600,000 patients require kidney transplants ever year. They suffer from end-stage chronic kidney disease. "Only 1%, end up getting a kidney. Another 2% are on dialysis. We do not know what happens to the rest of the 97%," Dr Prashant Rajput, nephrologist, Global Hospitals, said.
Up to 600,000 patients require kidney transplant in India ever year. They suffer from end-stage chronic kidney disease.
Only 1% end up getting a kidney
Another 2% are on dialysis
There are no records on what happens to 97% of the patients
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