On the 25th anniversary of the day when she attained her nunhood, Sister Rose Anto decided that the best way to commemorate it was by giving a man a second shot at life.
Irinjalakuda’s Thilakan used to repair cycles for a living. After being diagnosed with chronic renal ailments, his life came to a standstill with the failure of both his kidneys.
With his measly income, Thilakan was not in a position to meet the expenses of the surgery. This led the residents in his neighbourhood in Azad Road to form a committee and raise money for the surgery through crowdsourcing.
It was during one of the collection drives that Sister Rose came to know about the 47-year-old’s precarious condition, through the volunteers who had approached her for a donation.
A native of Alappuzha, Sister Rose is the head of the Hindi Department, at the St Joseph’s College and is already quite renowned for her association with social and charitable activities involving the elderly and needy widows in Irinjalakuda.
Upon finding about Thilakan’s dire situation, she readily volunteered to donate her kidney, reports Manorama, a local Malayalam daily.
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With the support and supervision of the Kidney Federation of India, the transplant was successfully performed by a medical team led by Dr George P Abraham at VPS Lakeshore hospital, recently in Kochi.
Thilakan is married with two children, and his life has received a fresh start, thanks to the generous act of Sister Rose Anto.
Featured Image inset source: Manorama.