Preeti Unhale from Delhi won a badminton gold medal. She is a picture of delight, trim and fit and ready to run a full marathon. It sounds so ordinary had it not been for the fact that Ms. Unhale, 49, did it at India’s first Transplant Games in the city on December 9, Saturday.
She is a splendid ambassador for the culture of organ donation that is yet to spread far and wide in India, where religious beliefs, superstitions, and even a simple lack of awareness easily let go of opportunities to bring back a person to the joys of life.
“Donating an organ is like being God. You are giving life not only to one person but to her or his entire circle of family and friends,” she said as a matter of fact recalling her health ordeals 23 years ago before she underwent a heart transplant. Since then she has been living a full life, swimming in the joy of life, and helping others as a staff member at the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation (ORBO) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
