Beyond The Rakhi, Sisters Become Their Brothers’ Lifelines

Perhaps somewhere, away from the world’s gaze, countless stories of love between brothers and sisters are being written every day — quietly, without celebration, applause or recognition.

Raksha Bandhan, the festival that celebrates this enduring sibling bond, merely gives a name to that invisible promise of love, care and protection.

This year, two such stories have emerged from the quiet corners of family life and come into the limelight. Both go far beyond the ritual of tying a rakhi and reveal the extraordinary ways in which sibling love can become a source of courage, hope and, quite literally, a gift of life.

In one, a 45-year-old sister donated her kidney to her younger brother, who had spent more than two years on dialysis. In the other, a two-year-old sister became a blood stem-cell donor for her elder brother battling thalassaemia, a blood disorder.

Different illnesses. Different treatments. Different ages.

But the same instinct — to stand by a sibling when life is at its most vulnerable.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida, Beena Kumari Gangwar, 45, decided to donate her right kidney to her 40-year-old brother Jitendra, who had been suffering from chronic kidney disease and undergoing dialysis three times a week for over two years.

As his health deteriorated, Beena stepped forward. After detailed medical evaluation and preparation, the siblings underwent an ABO-compatible kidney transplant at ShardaCare-HealthCity. Both donor and recipient recovered well.

For Jitendra, the transplant could mean freedom from the demanding routine of long-term dialysis and the possibility of a better quality of life. For Beena, the decision was not framed as an extraordinary sacrifice.

“When I saw my brother suffering through dialysis, donating my kidney was not a sacrifice but a natural expression of my love and responsibility as his sister,” she said.

That perhaps explains the essence of siblinghood better than any festival greeting could.

Dr Anil Sharma, Director, Kidney Transplant & Urology, ShardaCare-HealthCity, said the transplant was more than a medical success.

“Medicine gave us the means, but it was her courage and devotion that gave him life,” he said.

Dr Ahmed Kamaal, Director of Urology & KTP at Shardacare – Healthcity, added, “This transplant holds a special meaning for the family. Jitendra Singh Gangwar had been dependent on dialysis for over two years due to chronic kidney disease when his sister Beena came forward to donate her kidney. The transplant was successfully performed, and both donor and recipient have recovered well.”

Dr Kunal Raj Gandhi, Director, Nephrology, ShardaCare-HealthCity, said a kidney transplant can help suitable patients move beyond long-term dialysis and improve their quality of life, while stressing the importance of careful evaluation, planning and monitoring of both donor and recipient.

Then there is Khushi.

She was only two when she became a donor — too young to understand what Raksha Bandhan meant, or perhaps what her gift would eventually mean to her family.

Her elder brother Som was diagnosed with thalassaemia major when he was just five months old. His younger sister Saumya was also diagnosed with the inherited blood disorder. Both children depended on regular blood transfusions, placing an enormous medical and financial burden on their family.

The search for a compatible donor brought hope when Khushi, born in 2021, who is true to her name, brought happiness to the family. The family received free HLA typing from DKMS Foundation India, an organisation dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and other blood disorders such as thalassaemia and aplastic anaemia, at a camp organised by Narayana Health and KASH Foundation.

Incidentally, Khushi was a perfect 12/12 HLA match for her brother, Som. In 2023, at just two years of age, Khushi donated her blood stem cells to her brother.

Today, Som is healthy, goes to school and is able to live a normal life. There could hardly be a more poignant interpretation of raksha.

Traditionally, Raksha Bandhan has been seen as a brother’s promise to protect his sister. But these two stories quietly reverse that familiar script.

Here, the sisters became the protectors – one gave a kidney, the other gave stem cells.

Neither gift was symbolic. Both were medically meaningful interventions made possible by advances in transplantation medicine, careful clinical assessment and, above all, the willingness of one sibling to help another.

Patrick Paul, Executive Chairman, DKMS Foundation India, said the story of Som and Khushi also highlights the larger gap in access to compatible blood stem-cell donors.

Thalassaemia major is a serious inherited blood disorder in which the body is unable to produce adequate healthy haemoglobin. Children with severe disease often require repeated blood transfusions. For eligible patients, a blood stem-cell transplant can offer the possibility of a cure.

Yet finding a suitable donor remains a major challenge.

“Not every patient with a blood disorder is fortunate enough to find a matching donor within their family,” he said, noting that only 0.09% of Indians in the relevant age group are registered as blood stem-cell donors.