Surendra Bahadur KC, 60, who has been jogging for nearly two hours every morning after receiving a kidney transplant, is also participating in the event. “Exercise for me is not only a way to cope with side effects of post-transplantation medication but also to enjoy a vigorous life,” he said. [break]
People of the likes of KC have initiated Transplant Sports Event in a bid to make society understand that they are no different from others.
“People in general think that we are weaker members of the society. We need to remove this myth,” said Hari Narayan Sharma, who, four years after receiving kidney transplantation, is co-coordinating a ´Kidney Rally´ on March 13.
The event became an obsession for Dhruba Bikram Malla after he participated in the International Transplant Sports Tournament last year. Malla, a martial arts mentor, has been running in the tenth exuberant year of his post-transplantation life.
International Transplant Sports Tournament was started in 1978 and is recognized by International Olympic Committee (IOC).
According to Malla, the first tournament here would feature different games of the athletics including short distance sprints, javelin throw, shot-put, long jump and triple jump. “We also enroll into the tournament individuals who have received transplantation of organs other than kidney,” he added.
In Nepal, an estimated 2,800 persons are diagnosed with kidney failures every year. But barely 20 percent of them seem to have been getting transplantation due to high costs and lack of facilities in the country. Government data show that around 2.8 million people across the nation have kidney problems.
Those who have undergone a successful transplantation need life-long expensive medication and face a ´weaker-lot´ approach from others. “There are many instances that people are expelled from jobs after transplantation,” Sharma added.
Dr Divya Singh, who led the team of nephrologists to carry out the first kidney transplantation at TU Teaching Hospital Maharajgunj one-and-a-half-year ago, said that the recipient and donor of kidneys happen to be quite safe and functional in their lives. “One healthy kidney is necessary and having both is a luxury,” she said.
“There is no point in looking down on them,” she said. “But the government should encourage them for betterment of their own lives and the society by providing subsidies in medication and encouraging their participation in activities like sports which contributes to wiping out wrong social myths.”
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