Parents donate eyes of their twenty-five-days old baby
Mid-day: Twenty-five-day-old’s parents donated her eyes to a three-year-old before she died on July 23 last year.
July 23 will be an unforgettable day for the Upasani family. A day that will revive painful memories as well as bring deep satisfaction of having performed an act of kindness and one of tremendous courage.
On this day, last year, Balkrishna and Vandana Upasani lost their 25-day-old baby girl Muktai. It was also the day the heartbroken parents agreed to donate little Upasani’s eyes to a three-year-old.
This act of generosity makes little Muktai the youngest ever eye donor in Pune. The Upasanis are content that the child is looking at the world through their daughter’s eyes.
“The Upasanis have set an example for others. I am glad that more and more people were coming forward to donate eyes. Last year, we received 160 eye balls. The year before that we had just 140,” said Dr Rajesh Pawar, an eye specialist at the Jankalyan Eye Bank.
“Looking back , I feel sad. I also feel happy that we took the right decision. My 11-year-old son Atharva dreamt recently that Muktai had turned one, and all the gods crowded around her to look at her beautiful eyes,” said Balkrishna Upasani, a newspaper vendor.
Muktai was born on June 9, 2008 and died on July 23 of meningitis at a hospital on Laxmi road.
“It was difficult to bid goodbye to a child who gave us great joy in the 22-days of her short life. Her health deteriorated and she started losing weight. A CT scan at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital revealed that she had meningitis,” said Upasani.
A few excruciating days later, the doctors declared that Muktai was brain dead and it was time to remove her from the ventilator.
“We collected over 1,000 eyeballs in 2008 compared to about 600 in 2007. This year the picture is more positive and encouraging,” said Dr Ashok Mahadik, director, District Blindness Control Society.
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