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Organ donation drive gaining momentum

TRIVANDRUM - The human organ donation movement triggered by a Catholic priest who donated one of his kidneys to save the life of a terminally ill patient is catching up in Kerala.

While the organ mobilisation drive being led by Father Davis Chiramel of Trichur has netted more than 400,000 declarations from people from all walks of the life, more and more people are coming forward to voluntarily donate their organs. A village in the state’s northern district of Calicut is the latest to join the humanitarian service. Over 1,500 people at Cherukulathur, a small village in Peruvayal panchayat, have handed over the consent letters for donating their organs to Calicut Government Medical College authorities.

With this, Cherukulathur has become the second organ donor literate village in the country as a whole. The distinction of becoming the first such village has gone to Poothrakkal village in Trichur district.

More than 2000 people handed over their consent letters for donating organs to Fr Davis, during the Manav Karunya Yatra (human kindness march) he undertook from the state’s northern tip of Kasargod to the southern tip of Trivandrum last year.

Cherukulathur became a complete voluntary organ donor village after 1700 villagers inked the consent letter at a function in the village recently. Organ donation is not a new thing for the people in Cherukulathur. They had been active in the field even before Fr. Davis set the noble example. About 100 people from the village have donated their eyes and gave light to 183 people in the last 10 years. Another 1400 people have signed the consent letters to give their eyes after death.

The villagers were spurred into the humanitarian service by the K P Govindankutty Memorial Library and Reading Room. The latest bout of organ donation is the result of a coordinated campaign undertaken by the volunteers from the library.

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