“Seeing my brother’s condition was enough for me to decide to donate my kidney. I didn’t think twice… it will save our family,” says the frail 21-year-old Kanchan Singh, sitting next to her elder brother Santosh Singh (28), who is suffering from renal failure for the last seven months.

Santosh is the sole earning member of the family, which lives in a remote village in Uttar Pradesh.

After Santosh’s another round of dialysis on Saturday, Kanchan said, “After my brother got a job in a cloth mill in Ahmedabad a few years ago, he was saving money for my wedding. But we have spent the entire sum on his treatment. We have been running from pillar to post since February this year, as the doctors in UP could not diagnose the problem initially and we spent the money on the wrong treatment. By the time we reached PGI, we had Rs 40,000 with us. And more than half of it is has been already spent on dialysis.” Kanchan, who has studied till graduation, is undergoing tests at the PGI for the donation.

A graduate, Santosh has an ailing father, wife and a two years old son. Ever since his treatment began at PGI one and a half month ago, he is undergoing dialysis thrice a week. He is undergoing treatment at the Department of Nephrology.

The hospital has said a minimum of Rs 2 lakh would be needed for the transplant surgery.

You can help
If you want to send donations for Santosh’s surgery, send cheques in favour of Director PGI, or contact the Poor Patient Cell, PGI, at 0172-2756006.