CNN-IBN

Mumbai, Jun 17: Two couples belonging to different communities came together to bridge the communal divide by helping each other out.

A Muslim and Hindu couple swapped kidneys to donate them to each other’s spouse to save their lives.

Forty-year-old Dayal Bhanushali was diagnosed with kidney failure and his chances of recovery were slim.

Similar was the case of 29-year-old Shameen Begum, who too was trying to find a donor with the same blood-group as hers for a replacement surgery.

It was there that they met each others’ spouses and discovered, to their amazement, that Bhanushali’s wife and Shameen’s husband were the perfect donors.

Bhanushali's wife Damayanti and Shameen got talking and realised that Shameen's husband Saeed's blood-group matched with Bhanushali, while Damayanti's kidney was just right for Shameen.

"My blood group is A-positive and so is Shameen's husband's. Surprisingly, Shameen's blood group matched with my wife's bloodgroup which meant we both could get a life if our spouses would donated their kidney," Dayal Bhanushali said.

Sahmeen, too, couldn’t believe her luck. "I feel like I'm born again after three years of suffering," said Shameen

After getting the approval from the couples, doctors at the Jaslok Hospital conducted the four surgeries, two retrievals and two transplants, back-to-back on June 8.

A week later all four are on their way to recovery.

"Both donors have recovered and have been discharged. Receivers are also recovering," Dr M Bahadur, Jaslok Hospital said.

However, doctors have also sounded a word of caution. They say that despite the successful surgeries, Bhanushalis and Mohammeds would have wait and watch if their bodies responded well to the surgery.

Two years ago, organ recipients in a similar case in Chandigarh died after their bodies rejected the donated kidneys.

But both families are far from giving up hope and pray that the incident would set an example for people in both communities.