Bengaluru: A class 10 student from Dakshina Kannada was diagnosed with severe thalassemia when he was just five months old. Years of regular transfusions eventually caused severe iron overload, affecting his heart and liver, making a transplant particularly high risk.His younger sister was found to be a matched donor, and after intensive preparation and counselling at Sankalp-Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital Centre in Bengaluru, the family decided to go ahead with the transplantation.The boy’s mother Zareena, who herself lives with thalassemia major and continues regular treatment, said: “As a mother, I wanted my son to have a chance at life that is not determined by thalassemia. We were afraid, but the team gave us the confidence to move forward. Seeing him today makes that decision worth everything.”The boy is one of 1,000 children who have now received paediatric stem cell transplantations. At a press conference last week, DKMS, Sankalp India Foundation and medical partner Cure2Children Foundation announced that the three organisations, through a partnership spanning over a decade, have together given children with severe inherited blood disorders like thalassemia a shot at life beyond regular transfusions.The milestone was celebrated in Bengaluru under the theme “1,000 Beginnings.” Of the 1,000 children treated, Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei (DKMS), or German Bone Marrow Donor Centre, a non-profit, has funded the transplantation of more than 820 patients. “Behind 1,000 transplants are 1,000 children and families whose lives have been changed,” said Dr Elke Neujahr, Global CEO of DKMS.Sankalp India Foundation president Rajat Kumar Agarwal said: “We want to connect prevention, comprehensive thalassemia care, donor identification and high-quality curative treatment. It’s important because for every child and family, transplantation can be the start of an entirely different future.”Dr Lawrence Faulkner, founder and medical director, Cure2Children said: “Bone marrow transplantation requires highly trained teams, robust quality systems and the ability to deliver complex treatment reliably and sustainably.”
