Man travels 200 km through waterlogged streets to save child’s life in Chennai

On a mission to save a child’s life, N. Munnuswamy travelled nearly 200 km on Tuesday to get a donor’s stem cells that were required for a procedure to treat a child’s immunodeficiency disorder.

An employee of DATRI, a non-governmental organisation that helps patients suffering from blood disorders, Mr. Munnuswamy undertook the journey as the donor had travelled from the Andaman islands. DATRI maintains the largest registry of donors in India.

According to a release, a growth hormone is administered to the donor for five consecutive days so that the stem cells, which would be used by the patient, can be harvested. Due to the circumstances, the scheduled dates could not be changed, nor could the donor travel to visit their centre.

Hence, Munnuswamy first travelled 170-200 km on a bike from Kundrathur and then waded through waterlogged streets to administer the second dose of the growth hormone. “Once these injections are started, even a single day cannot be missed. Munnusawmy stepped up despite adverse weather conditions to reach the donor,” said Sumati Misra, Head of Medical Affairs at DATRI.