…the donor is his mother
Thirty-seven-year old Shureen Ragbeer will leave Guyana today for India to give her 19-year-old son, Satish Gobin, a new lease on life by donating one of her kidneys to him. The boy and his mother, based on tests done at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), have been deemed compatible for the organ transfer.
Suffering from chronic renal failure, the young man was first diagnosed with the disease in February and has since received the attention of the Three Rivers Kids Foundation – a Canada based support group.
The19-year-old is expected to spend six weeks abroad and will be treated at the Pushpavati Singhania Research Institute (PSRI) in New Delhi, India. The costs of the entire undertaking totals more than US$15,000.
For the last three weeks, since his diagnosis, the Foundation has been supporting his dialysis treatments here in Guyana.
Dialysis services here are offered via a partnership between the private and public sectors; hence the cost is now a subsidized $45,000 at the 5G Dialysis Centre, South Ruimveldt.
The Three Rivers Kids Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to helping sick children in Guyana whose parents are too poor to afford medical care. The Foundation has helped over 62 children receive life-saving surgery.
In an invited comment, President of the Foundation, Mrs. Jeanette Singh, an overseas based Guyanese, noted that the young man has his entire life ahead of him and facilitating his operation will ensure that he lives that life to its fullest potential.
“We will support him throughout the entire process…we never drop our patients. We will facilitate the operation and Satish will have follow-ups with the Georgetown Public Hospital. We will be in touch with the doctors there and are prepared to fly him back to India if complications come up,” Singh said.
However, the Foundation’s President said based on her years as a nursing professional, she is optimistic that all will go well.
She made it clear that apart from the cost for the operation, the Foundation will facilitate the 19-year-old with anti-rejection drugs which costs between US$400 and US$500 per day.
“After the surgery, Satish will have to be on these drugs for the rest of his life…as long as we are able, we will support him,” Singh said.
She added that periodic checks, once every three years, will also be funded so that the young man can return to India to ensure that all is well.
The Foundation’s President said, “Based on the needs of the people with health care needs, we will respond.”
She said that plans are also in the pipeline to help four-month-old Kenneth Prince and six-month-old Anayah Lopes, both of whom suffer from congenital health disease.
Singh noted that there are other cases in Guyana that are receiving the Foundation’s attention.
The Foundation’s President said she has been in talks with Director of Medical and Professional Services at the GPH, Dr Madan Rambaran, about facilitating a medical team here in September.
“Dr. Rambarran was keen on the idea…the persons from the Ministry of Health have been very receptive to the support the Foundation offers, and are very supportive,” she said.
She indicated that charity starts at home, which is the reason that she chose to come back to assist the people she is closest to.
Additionally, she pointed out that those in need of assistance can contact telephone number 225-7758 or visit the Foundation’s website www.threeriverskidsfoundation.org.
Gratitude
Expressing his gratitude for his new lease on life, the 19-year-old said there are no words to express his appreciation for what the Foundation has done.
“Only a mother can do this for her child,” he said as he turned his attention to his primary benefactor.
“I was diagnosed in February. I was the Best Hospital (West Demerara Regional Hospital) and then transferred to Public (GPH)…I have dialysis three times a week…this is a gift and I am grateful,” he said.
His mother and father, Mr. James Gobin, also expressed gratitude to all those who supported her and her family.