Meet Dr Kanmani, first female stem cell donor from Kerala
Kerala : Dr Kanmani from Kerala has set a record by becoming first female stem cell donor in the country. Despite of knowing about the complications in the process, she signed up for stem cell donation with Datri Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry. She is a medical student and just two days before her graduation ceremony, she approached towards donating her stem cell for a child with whom she has no personal connection or previous communication.
Dr Kanmani Kannan hails from a small town, Pachaperumalpatti, located 40 km away from Trichy in Tamil Nadu. Being a medical student, she has full knowledge about the life-risk stem cell transplantation. However, her strong feeling to save a life led her to sign up for stem cell donation with Datri Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry. And, within a very short time, a call came that a recipient has been identified from Sri Lanka . Nothing stopped Kanmani’s determination to save the life of a child with whom she has no previous connections. It was on Thursday, she met her recipient in an event held on Amrita Hospital in Kochi.
The stem cell recipient is a six-year-old child, Shreemalli Balasooriya from Sri Lanka. She has been diagnosed with Thalassemia at the tender age of 2 months old and had been undergoing blood transfusions every 14 days since then. Her father Jayanth Balasooriya reached a hospital in Bengaluru to provide her with the best treatment to cure her.
Sri Lanka did not have a stem cell donor registry and so there were very low chances of finding a matching donor, but the child’s parents refused to give up. To the surprise a match was found for her in Kanmani. “I have kept the donor card in my wallet ever since I signed the donor papers,” Kanmani said. “I knew if I am lucky enough to help out someone I might get a call and I did. On the day I signed the papers, I remember most of my classmates were scared. Now, I think the best message I can give them is my own example.
I want it to reassure others that nothing will happen even if we make a stem cell donation,” said Kanmani, who did her education in Kerala and signed up for the registry at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi.
Shreemalli, once the recipient of stem cell, now aims to be a doctor in future. “She wants to be a dancer too. I am glad she would be able to do it now. I also urge other people out there and doctors alike to properly understand stem cell donation and to encourage it,” said Dr Sunil Bhatt, who operated Shreemalli. Her mother Nilmini Balasooriya, Kanmani’s father Dr D Kannan, mother S Thangamani, brother Mani Vignesh, a medical student himself, and guardian Ramnath also attended the meeting of the donor and recipient.
Blood Stem Cell transplant is the only hope of life for those suffering from fatal blood disorders such as blood cancer. However, the probability of finding a matching blood stem cell donor is one in 10,000 to one in more than a million. If a match is found, that donor is probably the only person who can save the patient. Kerala has more than 34.8 million people. But, only around 64,326 potential blood stem cell donors are registered with DATRI till date.
