In a rare gesture, Hindu, Muslim couples undergo kidney swap transplant in Punjab

For two years, Abdul Aziz, a 53-year-old carpenter from Kashmir, had been on dialysis and was looking for a kidney donor till he found a match hundreds of miles away in Bihar -- a Hindu couple who agreed for a 'swap transplant'.

The families of Manjula Devi (42), a housewife from Patna in Bihar, and Aziz from Kashmir's Baramulla district were looking for suitable donors since their spouses' kidneys were a poor mismatch for each other.

The families crossed paths within three months after they got themselves registered on a mobile app 'iKidney', developed by Priyadarshi Ranjan who is a doctor.

After conducting all the requisite tests and examination, experts opined that the kidney of donor Kumar (46) – husband of Devi – was a good match for Aziz.

Kumar, who retired from the Indian Air Force as a technician, currently works in a bank in Patna.

Similarly, the kidney of donor Shazia (50) -- wife of Aziz -- was found to be a good match for Devi. Both the families agreed to undergo surgeries for a paired kidney exchange.

The families applied for no objection certificate from state authorities.

Later, the kidney swap was successfully performed between the couples from Kashmir and Bihar at Fortis hospital at Mohali, Ranjan said here Wednesday.

The surgery was conducted by a team of doctors led by Rajan, who is a consultant, Urology, Andrology and Transplant Surgery at the hospital.

"It gives me immense satisfaction that the swap kidney transplant was a success. Both the families are extremely happy and the patients are recovering well to the post-surgery treatment," Ranjan told reporters here in the presence of both the couples, one being a Muslim and the other one a Hindu.

A kidney exchange, also known as "kidney swap" occurs when a living kidney donor is incompatible with the recipient, and hence exchanges kidneys with another donor-recipient pair. Such transplantation enables two incompatible recipients to receive healthy, more compatible kidneys from each other.

Devi, who received Shazia's kidney, said, "I feel lucky that we got in touch with Shazia's family. I have been doing fine after the surgery was performed." On receiving a kidney from a Muslim woman, who is also a housewife, Devi, replied, "It gives me a great source of strength that humanity is the greatest religion."

Aziz, who received Kumar's kidney, said, "We know that helping a human in times of need is the greatest deed for anyone. For any human to help any other fellow human in need is the greatest deed and that is what all religions teach us."