THE RAMP WALK FOR LIFE

MOHAN Foundation Hyderabad Team celebrated 25 years of saving lives through a unique “Ramp Walk for Life” at Saptaparni, Banjara Hills wherein luminaries from various walks of life walked the ramp wearing Telangana Weaves and spoke about the life-saving cause of “organ donation on December 23, 2022.

Prominent doctors, celebrities, transplant recipients and donor families walked the ramp wearing Telangana weaves to create awareness of organ donation. Actor Revathy, who was the first celebrity to pledge to donate organs when the MOHAN Foundation was established, was the Guest of Honour at the event which was held in partnership with Abhihaara Foundation which promotes Telangana Weaves. Revathy flashed her Donor Card and sincerely appealed to everyone to pledge organ donation. She also spoke about her recent ventures i.e Aye Zindagi and Salam Venky, which are based on organ donation.

She saluted all the Transplant Coordinators who speak to the family during their darkest hour of grief and highly appreciated the activities of the MOHAN Foundation.

Among the luminaries who walked the ramp was Dr Sonali Arora, a Cardiologist who specializes in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology. Dr Arora, who is incidentally the daughter of former CEC Sunil Arora, completed an Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Fellowship at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. She developed the advanced heart failure program at Sparrow Hospital in Michigan and was responsible for the initiation of the inpatient heart failure service and the expansion of the heart failure clinic. She is currently working at KIMS, Heart and Lung Transplant Institute for the last 2 years. Sunil Arora is also an Advisory Member on the Board of the MOHAN Foundation.

Dr Manjula Anagani, a Gynaecologist, is the Clinical Director and Head of the Department, Obs and Gynae, Care Hospital Hyderabad who received the prestigious Padmashree Award in 2015. She holds the Guinness World Record for the highest number of fibroids removed from a single patient.

From MOHAN Foundation, Lalitha Raghuram (Country Director), K Raghuram (Advisor), and Pallavi Kumar (EDDelhi NCR) walked the ramp with the many other renowned persons from different areas of life, all joined together for the cause of Organ Donation were Swapna Sundari (Anchor), Manju Latha Kalanidhi (Journalist). Hoinhu Rajesh (Lung Transplant Recipient), T S Sudhir (Journalist), Dr Tapaswi Krishna P (Consultant Pulmonologist), Padma Buggineni (Health Professional), Dr Vineela Katam Reddy (Dentist), Uma Devi Chigurupati ( ED Granules India), Bhargavi ( Radio Jockey), Dr Rama Enganti (MD, DM Nephrology), Uma Sudhir (Executive Editor New Delhi Television), Dr Kola Sasikala (MD, DGO), Madhuri Dasagrandhi (Freelance Journalist), Karuna Gopal Vartakavi (Political leader), Gayatri Bhargavi(Actor), Colonel Vikram Subramanyam, Dr Subhadra Jalali, K. Rama Devi (Founder, ALEAP), Dr Usha Yanamandra, Dr Sandeep Gangaya Attawar Jyotsna Cheruvu, and Dr Samata Roshni Padala.

Dr Sunil Shroff, Founder of MOHAN Foundation sent out a strong appeal, “ Join us in our endeavour to ensure that ‘No Indian dies for want of an organ’. Let us normalise the conversation around this difficult, yet important topic, that has the Power to Save many lives.”

MOHAN Foundation, a pioneering NGO with a unique mandate of promoting deceased organ donation in the country, was set up in 1997 in Chennai. It took up the cause of organ donation at a time when no one in the country was talking about it and the environment was fairly hostile towards this highly taboo topic and therefore has been a torch bearer in this space.

Its unique mission is to ensure that every Indian that is suffering from end-stage organ failure, be provided with the gift of a new lease of quality life through a lifesaving organ.

Taking a 360-degree approach the Foundation has been relentlessly working to create awareness of organ donation amongst the public & healthcare workers, training medical & paramedical professionals, working with hospitals to set systems to enable organ donation and working closely with State and Central Governments to create a strong ecosystem for organ donation.

Their strength lies in grief counselling and carrying out the unenviable task of speaking to families at the time of the death of a loved one and encouraging them to think about organ donation so that those who are suffering from organ failure can benefit from a lifesaving transplant.