Berhampur: The family of an organ donation campaigner donated his body after his death to the MKCG Medical College and Hospital, here on Friday.
S Anand Rao of Adamji Lane near Kanjibari Street in the city, a businessman, was the founder president of the Friends Helping Club, which was launched to create awareness on eye donation about two decades ago. The club was also involved in motivating the people for body donation for last three years.
Following the death of 71-year-old Rao, his wife Vasant and daughter S Devi donated his body and eyes to the authorities of the MKCG Hospital in presence of their relatives.
“We motivated his wife and daughter for donating the eyes that will give sight to two persons. His body will help the medical students in their studies,” said J Suresh, an activist of Friends Helping Club. Both his wife and daughter agreed to the proposal, he added.
“Amid the grief of the death of my father, we feel proud that his cadaver will benefit medical students in their studies and research works, while providing sight to sightless persons,” said Devi. Though Rao had not pledged to donate her body and organs before his death, the family took the decision as he was an organ donation campaigner, she added.
“The donated body will be helpful to the students as the department has not an adequate number of cadavers,” said J Sagar Prusty, Head of the Department of Anatomy. The body has been embalmed to protect it from decomposition, he added.
It was the fourth body that was donated to the medical college in the last one-and-a-half months and eleventh in the last eight years. The last body donation was made on January 13, 2022, when a college student here donated the body of his father to the medical college for research purposes after his death.
Suresh said the first eye donation was made on the initiative of the members of the club with the death of former president V Sreeramulu. Since then it has become a movement in society, he added.
