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She inspired
organ donations by gifting son's organs
WSN Network
Chennai : It was a
difficult decision for Dr Pushpanjali to even consider organ
harvesting. After all, her only son Hitendran, all of 15 years, had
been declared brain dead only a while ago. But she gave her nod,
later explaining that it was the family’s way of coping with the
loss.
Her lasting
contribution comes from inspiring many families to come to terms
with the reality of the medical condition called brain death. So
much so that the phenomenal rise in the number of such organ
donations after Hitendran’s case has unofficially been termed the
‘Hitendran effect’.
On Saturday, Dr
Pushpanjali received the Kalpana Chawla Award for Courage from Chief
Minister M Karunanidhi. The Award was instituted in 2003 by the
state Government to acknowledge the courage or contribution of a
woman and carries a medal and cash certificate of Rs 5 lakhs. So far
awarded to one person, the authorities have now decided to enlarge
the list to three.
R Rajalakshmi, a
disabled athlete was the second recipient of the award. Undeterred
by the polio attack in her right leg, the 30-year old has won top
honours in Belgium in 2004 and Malaysia in 2006 in discuss and
javelin events.
Dr N Rajamaheswari,
head of the urogynaecology department at the Government Kasturba
Gandhi hospital was another recipient of the award, a pioneer in the
field having set up the first such department in the country 23
years ago. Being the first urogynaecologist in the country, Dr
Rajamaheswari has taught or trained all most all of the specialists
now in the field. Leading choreographer and actor, Lawrence
Raghavendra was also felicitated as the Best Social Worker.
The young actor was
paralysed by a tumour at a young age. Though he managed to overcome
the disability, it prompted him to work for the education of the
underprivileged, especially the physically-challenged.
19
August 2009
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