Published on August 30, 2023
AHMEDABAD: Jagdev Singh, 23, a resident of Sriganganagar in Rajasthan, recently received a package from Ahmedabad carrying rakhi from his ‘didi’ who has been sending him Raksha for the past two years.
A hand of fate brought the two together after the hands of the Ahmedabad girl’s brother were donated to Jagdev. Thus, while her brother is no more, her bond of love continues as rakhi would adorn Jagdev’s wrist on Rakshabandhan on Wednesday.
Nirmal Dhillon, Jagdev’s brother-in-law, said that Jagdev was working at a farm tubewell in 2019 when the motor malfunctioned. “It being a Sunday, there was nobody around, so Jagdev decided to look into the fault himself. As he tried to connect the electric wires to the motor, he got a major shock. The current from overhead high-tension wire was such that he got flung from the spot with severe burns on his hands and legs,” he recounted.
To save his life, both his hands and legs were amputated after a fortnight of the fateful incident. A ray of hope came in his life when a family of a brain dead youth in Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad consented to donate his hands in 2021. The youth had sustained severe head injuries in a road accident.
Dhillon said that along with the hands, they also got the family for life. “The sister of the donor considers Jagdev her brother as he now lives with transplanted hands of her young brother. We also feel that her brother lives on through his hands transplanted in Jagdev and honour the thread of love sent by her,” he said.
Jagdev said that he’s still to master the new limbs completely, but the hands and artificial legs have given him a second chance at life.
‘6 pairs of hands donated from hospital’
Jagdev said that he’s still to master the new limbs completely, but the hands along with artificial legs have given him a second chance at life including employment and self-reliance. Another pair of hands donated in 2022, that went to Pune in Maharashtra, are also getting rakhi, said the organ donation coordinators at Civil Hospital, as the sister of the deceased is in contact with the family.
Dr Rakesh Joshi, medical superintendent of Civil Hospital, said that so far six pairs of hands are donated from the hospital, and all have their own stories to tell. “While the hand donation is relatively very less compared to other organs, the stories of rakhi connecting the two families are heart-warming,” he said.
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