| 23 Jun 2005
June 16, 2005
Transplant recipients help to raise funds
AS THEY waited at death's door, total strangers gave them a new lease of life by donating the organs they so desperately needed. Now, grateful transplant survivors Thavanthri Veerappan and Mohd Selamat Ali want to do their bit.
The pair led a group of former patients in flagging off SingHealth's drive to raise funds for the President's Challenge yesterday. The effort, which hopes to raise $500,000, will culminate in the President's Challenge Health Relay 100 on July 10.
Mr Thavanthri, who was Singapore's first lung transplant patient in 2000, pointed out that patients who receive transplants benefit from the generosity of not just the donors, but also from the Government and other agencies.
'The costs of major operations, even if subsidised, can be substantial,' said the 58-year-old businessman. 'By raising money for charity, I hope some poor patients somewhere can benefit.'
His operation cost about $400,000, he said, of which he paid about a quarter from his savings as well as his and his family's Medisave accounts. He received a lung from a 37-year-old woman who died of brain haemorrhage.
Mr Selamat, 41, underwent a heart transplant in 2001. 'I received a big gift from society and want to pay something back,' said the semi-retired father of two.
Like Mr Thavanthri, he too did not know the person who gave him the gift of life. The donor was a young Chinese man who died in a motorcycle accident.
Others who have battled diseases, like colon cancer survivor Daniel Cheong, 68, and asthma patients Dzul Awal Bin Yusoff, 16, and Mohammed Hadhari Salihin, 14, also joined in the fund-raising effort, which was launched at Changi General Hospital.
The 'Adopt-A-Step' drive is on at all SingHealth polyclinics, national centres and hospitals, except Singapore General Hospital (SGH), until tomorrow. SGH will hold the campaign between next Wednesday and Friday.
The finale to the relay is a 2.5 km walk-a-jog. Orthopaedic surgeon See Hung Foo, the chair of the effort, said involving survivors was part of their rehabilitation.
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