CHENNAI: Indians may not be feeling too kindly towards Pakistan at the moment, but one Pakistani was definitely thanking India on Thursday.For 54-year-old Pakistan national Riaz Mohammed would have surely perished but for a heart donated by a Chennai man’s kin.“We had searched all around the world, before we found Dr Cherian’s Heart Foundation on the Internet,” recalls Haseena Riaz, the patient’s elder daughter. With a history of heart trouble and having undergone a bypass surgery in 2003, Riaz was in “a terminally critical state when he arrived here on June 23,” reveals Dr Prakash Hiremath, the transplant surgeon. Though the possibility of Riaz receiving a heart seemed remote, his wife, daughter and brother decided to take a leap of faith, flying him to Chennai from Dubai, where the family is based.“We registered him with the Tamil Nadu Network for Organ Sharing, but we are required to give preference to an Indian national from the city, and then region,” said Dr KM Cherian. With three others on the list, Riaz seemed out of luck when the family of Balaji (32), offered his organs for donation after his demise at Global Hospital in Perambakkam on July 8. “Balaji was a perfect match unlike the others,” added Cherian. After minor delays, they were given the go-ahead and the transplant was carried out at Frontline Hospital on July 10.After a tense five-and-a- half hour surgery, the heart was successfully transplanted into Riaz. “He is recovering well and may be discharged within 15 days,” added Dr Hiremath. Meanwhile, the family has been made to feel at home. “Everyone asks us if there is any animosity, but honestly we have only been showered with attention and kindness here,” says Haseena as her mother Sakeena Riaz holds back her tears.Riaz himself managed to raise himself up to say a lone sentence in Urdu, “Thank you India...thank you.”
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