Lucknow, Aug 11 (IANS): These siblings in Uttar Pradesh are celebrating 'Raksha Bandhan' in the true sense of the term.  

Exactly a year ago, Sujata Deo, a senior gynaecologist at King George's Medical University (KGMU) Queen Mary hospital here, had donated her kidney to save her brother, Sandeep Kumar, a principal income tax commissioner.

Last year on Raksha Bandhan, both siblings were admitted to the same hospital - Sujata being the donor and Sandeep being the recipient, at Ahmedabad's Institute of Kidney Disease and Research Centre (IKDRC).

Sujata had tied rakhi to her brother on the hospital bed.

Sandeep said: "I have four kidneys now, my sister has just one. I feel her love all the time. And, look at the timing. Her gesture came during Raksha Bandhan, and after the transplant, she tied rakhi on my wrist on the hospital bed."

Two transplants mean he has four kidneys, as the two damaged and shrunken ones were not removed on medical advice, Sandeep explained.

He said: "Raksha Bandhan is an unsaid promise of a brother to ensure the wellbeing of his sister. My sister reversed this saying by gifting me another life. So, this festival will be an occasion to renew the pledge of always being there for each other."

Talking about the transplant, Sujata said: "Me and my husband, and now, my daughter too--all are doctors and when we take the Hippocratic Oath, we commit to help all who we can. In this case, there was this irresistible  emotional and familial pull too. For my brother, time was running out and I did not want to lose him."

Sandeep had his first transplant in 2013. The second one was even more important as between 2013 and 2021, the premier kidney hospital's transplant norms had been revised, further highlighting the importance of an immediate relative volunteering for a kidney donation.

The provision of non-relatives volunteering for donation exists, but it is a "long drawn, taxing affair" and the siblings were well aware of it.