Organ Donation Awareness at Inner Wheel Club, Chennai

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  Ms. Ishwarya and Mr. Chillana interacting with the audience

  

  A child in the audience raising a question

  

  Mrs. Kamala Selvam interacting with the guests

  

  Ms. Sowmya, donor family member sharing her experience

  

  Mrs. Kamala Selvam delivering Chairman's address

  

  Group Picture

  

  Audience wearing bands in support of the cause

  On 3^rd January 2022, the Inner Wheel Club – District 323 organised an awareness session on organ donation and hosted The Cause Travellers, in association with MOHAN Foundation at Kovilambakkam, Chennai.

  Dr. Hemal Kanvinde – Quality Assurance Officer of the Foundation had coordinated with Ms. Sujatha – Member of Inner Wheel Club to organise the event. Rotarian Mr. Bhal Shekhar Chillana and his wife Mrs. Namrata of The Cause Travellers, Ms. Ishwarya (Research Associate) and Mr. Ganesh C (Marketing Coordinator) of MOHAN Foundation were present during the event. Around 30 women, representing the various Inner Wheel Clubs of the city were the audience.

  The event began with the rendition of the Inner Wheel Prayer, followed by a welcome address and introduction of the guests. Mr. and Mrs. Chillana and Ms. Ishwarya were felicitated next. Mrs. Kamala Selvam, District Chairman of Inner Wheel was welcomed and honoured.

  Ms. Ishwarya began her talk by thanking The Cause Travellers for embarking on a journey that was so important and meaningful. She spoke about the following topics: functions of the organs; causes of organ failure; brain death, organs/tissues that can be donated; criteria for organ donation; domestic and international statistics, body donation and myths and misconceptions related to organ donation. She narrated a recent, unsuccessful counselling incident which stressed on the importance of family consent in organ donation.

  Mr. Chillana next spoke about the ways to sign up as an organ donor and the importance of carrying a donor card. He shared with the audience the suffering his family underwent when his daughter was diagnosed with renal failure during pregnancy. He also mentioned how happy the whole family was when his daughter successfully underwent a transplant after his son-in-law donated one of his kidneys. He mentioned that a transplant not just saves one individual, but an entire family. Mrs. Namrata quoted the example of a coconut tree which benefits many even after its time and urged the audience to think on these lines.

  Ms. Sowmya from the audience who happened to be a donor family member, shared an incident from 7 years ago, when her aunt suffered a haemorrhage, was declared brain dead and the family consented to donate her organs. A few others shared the eye donation experiences from their families as well. The audience raised questions about:

  • Cancer patients be organ donors
  • Diabetics being organ donors
  • Cornea retrieval time
  • Minimum age limit for donation
  • Organ preservation

  Mrs. Kamala Selvam in her Chairman’s address spoke about a family member being diagnosed with organ failure and how this affected the entire family. This is also what motivates her to support the cause and promised that the Inner Wheel would engage with the cause to the best of its ability. The vote of thanks was delivered by a club member and everyone wished their best for the success of The Cause Traveller’s mission. Around 22 people took the organ donation pledge and pictures were clicked.

  
  
  Source-Ms. Ishwarya Thyagarajan