‘My decision to donate a kidney was God’s will’

Gopinath,an electrician,had been suffering from a kidney ailment for the past four years. Chiramel,a priest at the St Francis Xavier’s Church in Vadanappally,floated a relief committee to collect money for his treatment.

But a donor remained elusive. So in April,the priest decided to give his own. Last Wednesday,when doctors harvested the kidney from Chiramel and grafted it on to Gopinath,people from all faiths gathered to pray for them.

Once he has recovered,Chiramel,who has been a priest in Thrissur for 20 years,will also begin work at the Kidney Foundation of India (KFI) that he has founded in the village—its official inauguration will be held on October 30. “God demands several things from our lives. The decision to donate a kidney was God’s will,” he says. “We have to implement what we preach in life,” he says.

“Father Chiramel is our god,” says CP Premlal,Gopinath’s brother-in law.