Pathanamthitta (Kerala), Feb 22 (PTI) The grandfather of 10-month-old Aalin Sherin, whose parents consented to donate her organs following her brain death, on Sunday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mentioning the family in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme.
Reji Samuel, grandfather of Aalin—the youngest organ donor in Kerala—told reporters at Mallappally here that the family felt comforted amid their grief that the Government of India had acknowledged them in the radio address, which he said would inspire others.
“On one hand, we are grieving the child’s death. But we are happy that the country has recognised this,” he said.
He added that some people had been criticising the family on social media.
“We did not do this for publicity or recognition. We only feel sympathy for those posting such comments and distorting facts,” he said.
In his monthly radio address, ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Modi referred to Aalin and her parents while speaking about organ donation.
He said there is no greater sorrow for any parent than losing a young child and noted that Aalin’s father, Arun Abraham, and mother, Sherin, had made a decision that filled the nation with respect.
Aalin Sherin was critically injured in a road accident on February 5 while travelling with her mother and maternal grandparents at Pallam near Kottayam on MC Road.
Despite intensive medical efforts, doctors declared her brain dead on February 12.
With her parents’ consent, the organ donation process was coordinated by the Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (K-SOTTO), officials said.
Her heart valve was sent to the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram; her liver to KIMS Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram; and her kidneys to the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.
She was laid to rest with state honours as a mark of respect for the infant who, even in death, gave a new lease of life to five people. PTI TBA SSK
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