One Unforgotten Story of Humanity
This is the story of two of my ex-colleagues, Ramjee and Brian. Their story touches me till today and I am sure everyone who knows them must feel the same.
Ramjee was suffering from Polycystic kidney disease. Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited disorder in which clusters of cysts develop primarily within kidneys, causing kidneys to enlarge and lose function over time. His kidney started deteriorating in his 40s, he realized he would eventually need a transplant. He did all that he could to find a donor, even enrolling himself for a kidney transplant program in which there were thousands ahead of him in the queue.
Ramjee started his own campaign. He was never tired to ask what he needed. He started a FB page “Ramjee needs a kidney” . He painted the same message on his car window and I very well remember how he did all these with a smile. His T-shirt also had the same message. He got covered in news channels and a lot of awareness was being raised in the process.
No one knew that a co-worker Brian would become Ramjee’s saviour. What happened next is a story to remember and be in awe of for ever!
Brian went through the donor assessment process which involves few tests and failed the first assessment and I know how disappointed he was. He had told me that he would wait for the required number of months for a re-assessment. I would ask him if he was scared and Brian told me that he had no second thoughts. Anyone else in his position might have given up the thought of trying one more time. There were a multitude of tests and the outliers were weight, cholesterol and blood pressure. Brian told me that one of the things that pushed him through the process was knowing that he and Ramjee were very good genetic matches. He felt like it was fate and he wasn’t going to give up! Brian trained himself, lost weight and made himself eligible in a matter of few months.
The successful transplant happened in 2019 and rightfully so it was a rebirth for both Ramjee and Brian. “Met Life” in it’s true essence.
Having witnessed their struggles, the few chats I managed to steal before their surgery, the fear, the eagerness to see them both jump back to life through FB pics, will remain one of the most touching memories of my life.
Since their story stays in my mind forever, I felt the need to jot it down 4 years after their surgery just to say humanity lives. And this post is incomplete without acknowledging the tremendous support both got from their better halves and family.
