Happy Friendship Day...!!!

Today on Friendship Day Let Us Decide..... ~From~ gauresh

In death, they give birth to more docs Bharat Yagnik Ahmedabad: A group of close friends from Vadodara – the Gandhis, Shuklas and Vadaliyas – are past masters in the art of giving, especially when it comes to donating bodies of their loved ones. The families have so far made 18 body donations between them.     The three families, however, are not alone. So deep-rooted is this tradition in Gujarat that the state is now number one in the country in donating bodies to medical colleges. While many medical colleges across the country are facing a dearth of bodies for study, in Gujarat hospitals often see a glut of donations.     “The first body donated from our group was of 82-year-old Vishnubhai Gandhi”, says Nilesh Shukla from Vadodara. Shukla started fighting for body and organ donation after one of his eyes was damaged during the Navnirman protests but there were no replacements available in eye banks.     In Ahmedabad, the Shah family has made three body donations. The mortal remains of Subhadra Shah, Bhikhabhai Shah and Sharda Shah were not consigned to flames. They were taken to the medical colleges in Ahmedabad with the beating of dhols! “My parents and aunt believed that they should be useful to society even in death. The rest of the family too has signed on the dotted line”, says Nirpunika Shah, daughter of Subhadraben and Bhikhabhai. “Around 300 bodies are donated to medical colleges each year in the state. In our college, 50-odd bodies are received annually," says Dr Bharat Shah, dean of the B J Medical College. “Gujarat gets maximum donations. We can store 16 bodies but we get 50-odd. The rest are given to private colleges for study,” says Jitubhai Shah, head of anatomy department at NHL Municipal Medical College. “Medical colleges from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh often write to us to give them some bodies, but inter-state transfer of dead bodies is not permitted.”     “Gujaratis have pioneered the concept of being useful to humanity, even in death. The high number of body donations in the state is driven by voluntary organizations and religious institutions,” says Farsubhai Kakkad of Satkarya Sewa Samaj which has coordinated donation of 299 bodies and taken written consents of 400  Source : Times of India  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Pledge organs, be a Superman Amitabh Shah     When it comes to people in need of organ donation, the first thing I remember is the struggle of my dear friend Dipak Patel, a very successful builder from Ahmedabad. At the age of 35, he suffered from mayopathy, a form of heart disease in which the rate of pumping goes down. His only chance of survival was a heart transplant.     Dipak has a wife and two kids. He lived with pain and uncertainty for two years, wondering every moment whether it would be his last, whether while laughing his heart would just stop and his family will be left all alone. One cannot imagine what it must have felt like living that like. After years of waiting, Dipak got a donor from Africa and a new lease of life.     But he didn’t celebrate his good fortune by just thanking God — he went on to establish an organization called Shatayu that finds donors for all the other Dipaks of the world.     This is the story of just one family, but there are thousands of families like these and many are not as lucky. Every year more than 10 lakh people in the country are estimated to suffer from organ failure, according to government statistics. It is estimated that out of 6-8 lakh patients on dialysis, only 6000 get a kidney transplant, and that too from a live donor. In a country where 200,000 people need a new kidney every year and 100,000 a new liver, only 2-3% of the demand for new organs is met.     India is one of the youngest countries in the world and has approximately 770 million people below the age of 35. All of us can be Superman for someone, simply by pledging our organs. We all love to get gifts, but there can be no greater gift then giving someone the gift of life.     We all have the opportunity to change someone’s life, to be immortal. We all have the opportunity to play God once in our lives! Life gives us all the opportunity to be great — come let’s seize ours. I am pledging all my body parts. Are you ready to become a Superman too?     The writer is the founder and chief inspiration officer of YUVA Unstoppable   CATCHING ’EM YOUNG Ahmedabad: Aiming to educate children about organ donation, Dipak Patel, chairman of Ganesh Housing Corporation and founder of the NGO Shatayu, has launched India’s first comic book on organ donation.     The book has a superhero called `Super Donor’. The protagonist is Rohit, a school boy, who is taught how organs can be donated after brain death. The child remembers this when his driver is declared brain dead after an accident. He then convinces the driver’s mother to donate his organs. That saves the life of a small girl Sanjana and Rohit is lauded by his school for his efforts.     “We have realized that people believe in numerous myths about organ donation which includes religious and superstitious beliefs. Hence we decided to educate young minds so that they can take their own decisions without being influenced by any beliefs. We have distributed over two lakh comics and want to cover all schools in the state,” says Patel. “We are the second most populous nation in the world. We should be able to help each other,” he adds. Radha Sharma  Source : Times of India  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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