AHMEDABAD: Priya Shah (7) was fighting a losing battle with thalassemia. A bright student, she was forced to take a drop from school. Doctors advised a stem cell transplant but none of her family members were a match.

A stranger proved to be her knight in shining armour, coming all the way from Dubai to give Priya a fresh lease of life. Ahmedabad’s Gopal Vachhani (44) did not blink an eyelid before coming to Priya’s rescue. A perfect match, his stem cells were transplanted into Priya in an allogenic-matched unrelated donor transplant.

Surgeons say they have rarely come across a donor who has gone such lengths to honor his commitment. “Most matched registered donors back out, leaving critically ill patients in the lurch. It is heartwarming to see donors like Gopal,” says transplant surgeon Dr Chirag Shah.

Vachhani had registered as a donor in 2013. When he got the call for Priya, his family asked him if he really wanted to move to the next step. His answer was, “Yes, I want to save a life.”

With Vachhani’s gesture, the DATRI stem cell donor registry has completed the 100th unrelated blood stem cell donation. Raghu Rajagopal, co-founder and CEO, DATRI, said, “If there are 20 million registered donors in the world, there are just over one lakh registered stem cell donors in India. We’re still hunting for a donor for over 1,000 patients.”

Priya's family says Gopal is God for them. Priya and Gopal are yet to meet; donation rules stipulate the donor meets the recipient only after a year. A bond of hearts, however, has been forged.

