Bengaluru woman donates 68% of liver to keep brother alive

BENGALURU: It is all right to donate your organs, says Bengalurean Gurdeep Kaur, two weeks after she gave 68% of her liver to her brother.
In May 2021, her 44-year-old-brother in Dubai, Jaswant Singh, had mild fever and his eyes turned pale. He visited the doctor thinking it could be jaundice, but his condition did not improve. The second wave of Covid-19 was raging and several flights were suspended.Jaswant’s family managed to bring him home to Punjab on May 19, where his condition continued to deteriorate. The only option left was a liver transplant.
When Gurdeep, in Bengaluru, learnt about her elder brother’s plight, she knew she was an ideal candidate, considering that her mother was aged and Jaswant’s children were not a match.
“I have two sons — one 16 and another 6,” the 43-year-old homemaker said. She was thinking of becoming a donor even as she was besieged by self-doubts. It was after doctors assured her that there would be no risk to the donor and that the liver would regenerate, her resolve to save her brother’s life got stronger. “Even my husband, a subhedar major, who was initially hesitant, eventually understood that I needed to help my brother,” she told TOI.
The liver transplantation was done on December 8 at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi.
“I donated 68% percent of my liver, and am told it will take six to eight weeks to regenerate. It has been six weeks now and I am fine. I handle household chores,” Gurdeep said.