Bishop Jacob Murickan from Pala in Kottayam is the first serving bishop who has volunteered to donate a kidney, while alive
Highlights
- Sooraj has been undergoing dialysis for over a year after kidney failure
- Kottayam's Bishop Jacob Murickan will donate his kidney to Sooraj
- He's the first serving bishop to donate a kidney while alive
For 30-year-old Sooraj in Kerala's Mallapuram, who has been suffering from a kidney failure from past one and half year, this news was nothing short of a divine message.
The unexpected surprise for him - was an unusual kidney donor. Bishop Jacob Murickan from Pala in Kottayam is the first serving bishop who has volunteered to donate a kidney, while alive.
The only earning member of his family, Sooraj has been undergoing dialysis for over a year after a kidney failure.
"I started taking treatment only when the situation got really bad about one and a half years back. Now, I have come to know that a bishop is donating his kidney for me. For me it's nothing less than God's intervention," Sooraj told NDTV in Kochi.
The Bishop says that the recipient is from another religion was never a concern for him. For his church, it has been a "year of mercy" and for him an opportunity to back his sermons with action.
"Our church and Pope Francis truly believe and back such acts of organ donations. It's in the spirit of the church. I believe this should be a strong message for people around me, to be open to donate organs", Bishop Murickan told NDTV.
The man behind these efforts is Father Chiramel, who was a first priest from India to have donated his kidney years back, before he started Kidney Federation of India.
"When we reach out to an individual through a donor, our only condition is that someone from the recipient family must eventually be willing to donate for someone else. But in the case of Sooraj that wasn't possible because of family restraints and ill health and we understand that."
The surgery is expected in the first week of June.