Abstract

Sooraj was an athletic teenager who is diagnosed to have blood cancer. He meets his donor and undergoes stem cell transplantation. Finally, he celebrates his second chance at life. The author pens down this experience in the configuration of a poem.

Sooraj was a bright, adolescent,

An all-star athlete in his hometown…

When he first began feeling tired,

And exhaustion brought his world crumbling down….

Concerned about their son's lack of vigor,

His parents led him to the labs…

Sudden, painful diagnosis of the blood cancer,

Was nothing short of a cruel jab…

At present, the only hope to save him was a stem cell transplantation,

Although intriguing, he lay in a grave situation…

Albeit no one in the family could help him right then,

Since HLA matching was a requisite obligation…

Helpless and feeble his family was worn out,

Despite their persistent efforts and ventures throughout…

Facing the odds, all along, until they found someone,

Who mirror-matched their son's report beyond all question…

Hooray! Finally, his cure came from Manohar,

Biologically unrelated, yet fully matched donor…

After facing much trouble and continuous pain,

Sooraj set out to celebrate his life again.

Acknowledgment

The author gratefully acknowledges the support of Dr. Anuradha Kusum, Professor and Head, Department of Pathology, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Swami Rama Himalayan University, Swami Ram Nagar, Jolly Grant, Dehradun, for her kind help towards the critical appraisal of the poem.