Pune parents donate son's eye

Despite the trauma and agony, the Gupta couple did not hesitate to donate the organs of their three-and-a-half-year-old son, Shiven, who died in a tragic mishap on Wednesday.

However, since he was very young, none of the organs could be donated, except the eyes.

“I told the doctors to take Shiven’s organs. But the doctors told me that they can use only one eye as the other eye was damaged in the mishap and his other organs are too small to be donated,” a grieving Santosh Gupta, the victim’s father, told DNA on Friday afternoon in Magarpatta’s Roystone Apartment in Hadapsar.

Gupta, who was on dialysis five years ago, said, “I was on dialysis five years ago as both my kidneys were not functioning properly. At that time my mother had donated one of her kidneys to me. So I know the importance of donating organs,” Gupta added.

Shiven, a nursery student of Pawar Public School, was on his way to school when the driver of the school bus suddenly applied brakes and the door of the bus flung open. Shiven fell out of the bus and came under the rear wheels.

Shiven was the only son of the Gupta couple and by donating his eye the couple is hopeful that it would help someone see the world. An emotional Gupta said, “We accepted the facts and decided to donate his eye.”

Referring to the school bus service, Gupta said that a parent in his locality had complained to the school authorities about the callous attitude of the school bus staff.

According to doctors, the gesture of the couple was a remarkable one.

“This eye can be used after examining the condition of the cornea. However, we can’t use an eye if the patient dies due to cancer or any other serious disease,” said eye surgeon, Dr Anand Sharma of Anand Eye Care Center, Tingrenagar.