'Your child is alive inside my daughter,' says family of child who received heart from Australian kid

One fine day a year ago, Smita Vishwakarma, a Goregaon resident and homemaker realised that her usually chirpy daughter of seven, was not acting her usual self. Madhavi, she noticed, was not playing as much as she used to. She frequently felt drowsy and wanted to sleep more than usual.

"We took her to a few doctors and they waved it off as just a normal cough and cold. At the time my mother was in the hospital, so our focus was mostly on her," said Rajesh, Smita's husband, a railway contractor by profession.

The couple had one more child, a two-month old toddler, Jayesh who also required constant attention. As the days went by, Madhavi's health deteriorated further. Further tests revealed that her heart was functioning at only 20% of its capacity. The family was devastated by this news. "It felt like someone had pulled out the rug from under our feet," said Rajesh. They began to search for answers frantically, visiting doctors in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and even Chennai. "We even looked up hospitals in Boston and turned to the internet for further research," he continued.

Everywhere he went he was told that a heart transplant was the only way to save his daughter's life. But Mumbai had never witnessed a heart transplant on a such a young patient. The hope of finding a match for Madhavi seemed remote. On January 12, 2016, Madhavi came up on the waiting list for patients requiring a heart transplant. However, by that time, her heart was performing at a chilling 10% of its normal capacity. The only thing that kept her heart pounding were the medicines being pumped into her systems at Fortis Hospitals in Mulund.

In their darkest of hours, Rajesh recalled how one of the doctors, Dr Anvay Mulay said, "Your child will remain with you." He was the first doctor to give the couple hope for Madhavi. 17 days later, Rajesh and Smita received a call saying that a heart was available. Luckily, the donor was of the same age, the same weight and even the same blood group as Madhavi. "It was a miracle. The child whose heart is beating in our daughter's body is our saving angel," said Smita.

Madhavi received a heart transplant on January 31. She was out of the ICU in five days and back on her feet in seven. Less than a month later, she danced non-stop at her birthday party! "We had invited all her doctors. Today thanks to the heart donated by that little boy, my daughter is even more active than earlier," said an ecstatic Rajesh.

In the month of January 2016, Deyaan Udani, a seven year old boy from Australia, collapsed while on a vacation in India. The grief -stricken family decided to donate his organs, respecting the little boy's wishes, thus saving four lives. 3,000 members from their community have pledged their organs. This has now turned into a worldwide movement of organ donation.

Madhavi who is now in class three at Lakshdham High School in Goregaon is busy preparing for her exams and dances to her heart's content. "Your child is still alive within my daughter. I will never want them to feel like their child has gone anywhere. We have kept his picture next to our other idols in our prayer room," said Smita happily.