Latest news with #Anamta
Time of India
7 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
Youngest recipient of shoulder-level hand transplant finds power in her left
SLUG: International Lefthanders Day Surat: For most people, switching their dominant hand is a matter of preference or skill — some, like Albert Einstein, mastered writing with both hands. But for 19-year-old Anamta Ahmad, a young girl from Mumbai and now the world's youngest recipient of a shoulder-level hand transplant, receiving the right hand of Valsad's Riya Mistry in a rare procedure became a fight for survival — a journey marked by tragedy, resilience, and an unwavering will to adapt after losing her right hand in an electrocution accident. Three years ago, a severe electric shock injury forced doctors to amputate Anamta's right hand. The loss was devastating. She admits she was initially angry with her parents for allowing the surgery, but within 24 hours, she accepted the reality and set her mind on adapting to life without it. Determined not to let the accident define her, she began training herself to use her left hand for everything — from writing to daily chores. The first words she penned with her new dominant hand were not of despair but of defiance: "Caution: No Sympathy," a note she pinned to her bedroom wall as a reminder to everyone and herself, that she would not be held back. "Despite the major accident and hand amputation, she secured overall 92% marks in her Class X exams and 98% in Hindi. Maybe the confidence was the major force that helped her survive the transplantation surgery, which is considered rare," said her father, Aqeel. The electric shock had also severely injured her left hand, requiring multiple surgeries to save it. Initially, even using that hand was a challenge. But through determination and relentless practice, she regained strength and dexterity. Immediately after returning home post-amputation, Anamta started practising writing and handling everyday tasks with her left hand. While she took the help of a writer during exams, she continued practising so she could one day do it all herself. Even after undergoing the transplant, she still relies entirely on her left hand, as the new right hand will take time to become fully functional. "I use my left hand for all work — from writing to using a computer. The transplanted hand isn't fully functional yet, and it will take some time," Anamta told TOI. It took her about three months after the amputation to be able to write and manage most tasks with her left hand. In Oct 2022, Anamta was electrocuted while playing on a terrace at a relative's home in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Nearly two years later, in Sep 2024, she received the right hand of Mistry in a rare transplantation procedure. "My educational institute, Mithibai College, has been very supportive. They allowed me to appear for exams despite long medical leaves, which helped me continue my studies even through hospitalisation and recovery," she said. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
India.com
09-08-2025
- Health
- India.com
Real Life Raksha Bandhan: Her Hand Once Held His Sister's, Now A Mumbai Teen Ties Rakhi To A Brother She Never Knew
Ahmedabad: Dressed in a soft pink salwar suit edged with delicate lace, 16-year-old Anamta Ahmed leaned forward and gently tied a rakhi around the wrist of Shivam Mistry. He looked at her with affection and smile on his face. The room filled with applause. A few eyes glistened with tears, while the familiar melody of a beloved Raksha Bandhan song played in the background. The scene carried a meaning far beyond than a simple festival ritual. The very hand tying the rakhi had once belonged to Shivam's younger sister, Riya, a nine-year-old girl who passed away in September 2024. The emotional meeting was made possible by a Surat-based NGO. The Mistry family lives in Valsad, while Anamta is from Goregaon in Mumbai. After Riya's passing, one of her hands was transplanted onto Anamta, creating a bond that neither family could have imagined before. For Shivam's father, Bobby Mistry, the first time he touched Anamta's transplanted hand was overwhelming. His voice still shakes as he recalls the moment. 'It felt like Riya was still here with us. She was the only girl in our family. In that moment, it was as if our daughter had come back to life,' he told The Indian Express. Two years earlier, life had taken a harsh turn for Anamta. Then a Grade 10 student, she was visiting her relatives in Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) when she accidentally came into contact with a high-tension electric wire while playing on a terrace. The shock left her unconscious, and doctors were forced to amputate her entire right arm. Severely damaged, her left arm retained only 20 percent of its function. Riya's story began to change in September last year. One afternoon in Valsad, she suddenly began vomiting and complained of an intense headache. Several hospitals could not identify the problem. Her parents rushed her to Surat's Kiran Hospital on September 15. A CT scan revealed that she had suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage, leaving her brain-dead. The diagnosis stunned her family and the hospital staff. At that moment, the NGO Donate Life stepped in. They spoke with Riya's parents, who decided to donate her organs. A registration was made with the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (SOTTO). On September 17, Riya's right hand, which was amputated from the shoulder, was transported to Mumbai, where surgeons transplanted it onto Anamta. Nilesh Mandlewala, president of the NGO, said this made her the youngest person in the world to undergo a shoulder-level hand transplant. Riya's kidneys and liver were also donated, saving the lives of other recipients. The two families finally came face-to-face a day before Raksha Bandhan this year. Nilesh described the gathering as 'an auspicious occasion', with relatives and friends from both families present. Bobby had no idea a rakhi ceremony had been planned. The NGO had arranged it as a surprise. 'I was at work when my wife, Trishna, called and asked me to come home early. My son and I arrived together. The house was full of people. I saw Aquil Ahmed, his wife and their daughter. And then I saw Anamta. I was stunned. They told me they had come to tie a rakhi to Shivam. It was a moment we will never forget,' he said. For Aquil, the day brought back memories of the accident in 2022. 'After the electric shock, she became unconscious. We brought her back to Mumbai. Dr. Nilesh Satbhai at Global Hospital told us that her right arm had to be amputated, and her left arm was only partially functional. She was in Class 10, and her board exams were coming up. The amputation was done from the shoulder. A few months later, her left arm was operated on,' he recalled. Recovery was slow but steady. He remembered how his daughter turned to YouTube videos for physiotherapy exercises, gradually improving the strength in her left hand. She practised writing every day despite the pain, returned to school and scored an impressive 92 percent in her Grade 10 board exams in 2023. Her name was later registered with Maharashtra SOTTO. On September 16, 2024, Dr. Satbhai called the family with news of Riya's donation. The transplant surgery went ahead, and today, Anamta can use both hands with confidence. 'We thank Bobby and Trishna from the bottom of our hearts,' said Aquil. Now in Grade 12 at Mithibai College, Anamta uses her free time to create videos encouraging people to overcome adversity. She has appeared on podcasts, spoken at events and even delivered a TEDx talk to inspire others with her extraordinary story of connection, loss and renewal.
NDTV
09-08-2025
- Health
- NDTV
Muslim Teen With Amputated Hand Ties Rakhi To Hindu Donor's Brother
Brothers and sisters are each other's superheroes with super-healing powers. Fifteen-year-old Anamta Ahmed from Mumbai and Shivam Mistry were not even distantly related until last year, when they gave strength to one another and healed wounds. And on Saturday, the two families witnessed a Raksha Bandhan unlike any other. "I do not have a brother and Shivam lost his only sister. From now on, Shivam is my brother and I am his sister. I shall tie him a rakhi every year. I do not feel like I am meeting his family for the first time. Everyone gave me so much love," Anamta, who was dressed in a pink salwar-suit, said. Anamta and Shivam's "sibling" relationship dates back to last year, when a hand belonging to Riya, the latter's late sister, was transplanted on Anamta. On October 30, 2022, Anamta's right arm had to be amputated after she came in contact with a 11,000 kilowatt high-tension cable at a relative's house in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh. A resident of Goregaon in Mumbai, she managed to save her left arm through surgery but suffered immense mental and physical distress after the accident. Two years later on September 14, around 200 kilometres away, Riya, a class 4 student from Gujarat's Valsad, fell sick when she suddenly began vomiting and complained of an intolerable headache. After visiting several hospitals, she was admitted to Kiran Hospital in Surat on September 15 and later died of a haemorrhage. The incident left everybody stunned. But Riya's organs were capable of giving a new lease of life. And her family and renowned gynecologist in Valsad, Dr Usha Mashri, understood this. "When Anamta tied a rakhi on Shivam's wrist, we felt that Riya came back to life and it was her who was tying the rakhi to her brother. I made gulab jamun, Riya's favourite sweet. We celebrated Raksha Bandhan this year, like every year," an emotional Trishna Mistry, Shivam and Riya's mother, said. "We are not able to get over our daughter's death but seeing Anamta brings us joy. After losing one daughter, we got another. It gives us solace to see how happy she is and how good a life she is leading," she added. Dr Mashri inspired Trishna and her husband, Bobby, to consider organ donation. Her two kidneys, liver, hands, lungs, intestines and corneas were harvested. The couple came across a non-governmental organisation that deals with donation of organs and were counselled on the matter. Days later, Riya's right arm was amputated and sent to Mumbai. It was subsequently transplanted on Anamta at Global Hospital, making her the youngest in the world to undergo the procedure at shoulder-level, according to Nilesh Mandlewala, the president of Donate Life NGO. On Saturday, Anamta and Shivam's families were overcome by emotions when they met on Tithal Beach road in Valsad. Anamta travelled all the way to Valsad to greet her "brother" and tie a sacred thread on his wrist. When the teenager reached the spot, she received a tight embrace from Shivam's mother. "I felt as though I was getting the Rakhi tied by my beloved sister Riya," Shivam said. "From now on, I am Anamta as well as Riya," Anamta added.
Time of India
09-08-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Rakhi with donor's hand: Mumbai teen meets her ‘new brother' in Gujarat
MEERUT/SURAT: On Gujarat's scenic Tithal Beach Road in Valsad, two families brought together by loss celebrated a Raksha Bandhan unlike any other on Friday. Sixteen-year-old Anamta Ahmad from Mumbai tied a rakhi to 14-year-old Shivam Mistry, the brother of her organ donor, with the very hand she had received from his late sister, Riya. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The world's youngest recipient of a shoulder-level hand transplant, Anamta was given Riya's hand, the world's youngest donor limb of its kind, after Riya was declared brain-dead last Sept, a day after being diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage. Image Credit: TOI Three years earlier, Anamta had lost her right hand after touching a live 11KV high-tension cable while playing on the rooftop of her father's ancestral home in Aligarh. On Friday, as she tied a rakhi on Shivam with the same hand Riya once used to tie on him, she became a living link between two families bound by love, grief, and gratitude. Emotions ran high as the Mistry family embraced Anamta, tears streaming down their faces. 'When I met Anamta and held her hands, it felt as if my Riya came back to life,' said Riya's mother, Trishna, her voice heavy with emotion. 'The pain I carried suddenly turned into deep affection for this girl who travelled all the way to tie a rakhi on my son's wrist. Anamta is now my daughter too and Riya will always live on in her. We are still overcoming our loss, but it felt good seeing how Anamta is happy and living a good life. ' 'Her hands were the same, even the texture. I suddenly thought I saw Riya while Anamta was tying the rakhi,' Shivam said. 'She came from Mumbai to meet me. I will go to her next year. This tradition will continue for the rest of my life.' Som Singh Bhai, Riya's grandfather, said nothing, but held Anamta's transplanted hand for a long time. Cousins and friends of Riya also queued up for rakhis from Anamta when she visited with her parents, Aqeel and Daraasha. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now For Anamta too, the meeting was equally moving. 'The feeling is difficult to explain. I never met Riya, who made my life complete, but I feel so connected to her. All the trauma of the last three years vanished in an instant when her mother held me as I tied a rakhi on her brother's wrist. I felt I was just a medium and it was Riya uniting with her brother.' Apart from her right hand, Riya's kidneys, liver, lungs, corneas, and left hand were also donated, transforming eight lives. 'This is the first time I've witnessed such a powerful moment where tradition and humanity came together beyond all boundaries,' said Nilesh Mandlewala, founder of the NGO Donate Life, which facilitated the organ donation. 'Generally, a donor's identity is not revealed, but here was humanity at its best.' TOI first reported on Anamta in 2022, when, then 13, her right hand suffered severe burns from the accident and had to be amputated thrice after it developed gangrene. Her left arm was left with major wounds and limited function. Two years later, a 12-hour transplant surgery in Mumbai, le
Indian Express
09-08-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Months after transplantation gives her a new hand, Muslim teen from Mumbai ties Rakhi to brother of Hindu donor in Gujarat's Valsad
Dressed in a pink salwar-suit set with lace detailing, 16-year-old Anamta Ahmed ties a rakhi around the wrist of Shivam Mistry. Her rakhi brother, Shivam, looks at her indulgently and the entire room breaks into applause. A few people have tears in their eyes. Someone plays the popular Raksha Bandhan number 'Behna ne bhai ki kalaai pe pyaar baandha hai…' and everyone present begins humming along. This is not merely a story of communal harmony, though. Until last year, one of the hands that Anamta is using to tie the rakhi belonged to Shivam's sibling Riya. The nine-year-old died in September 2024. With the help of a Surat-based NGO – the Mistrys are based in Valsad – one of Riya's hands was transplanted on Anamna, who lives 180 kilometres away in Goregaon, Mumbai. 'We touched the hands of Anamta and felt like it was Riya. She was the only girl child in our entire family. We felt like our daughter was still alive,' says an emotional Bobby Mistry, Shivam's father. Anamta was in Class 10 when, after coming in contact with a high-tension wire, her entire right arm had to be amputated by doctors in 2022. Even her left arm was working at 20% capacity. Two years later, on the afternoon of September 13, Class 4 student Riya fell sick in Valsad. She began vomiting and complained of an unbearable headache. After trying at several hospitals, her parents admitted her at Surat's Kiran Hospital on September 15. A CT scan showed that she was brain-dead due to a haemorrhage – a revelation that left Riya's family and entire staff shocked. Around this time, Donate Life NGO approached Riya's family and counselled them, following which they agreed to donate her organs. A registration was made on SOTTO (State Organ And Tissue Transplant Organization) and Riya's right hand, starting from the shoulder, was amputated and sent to Mumbai. It was transplanted on Anamta on September 17, making the teenager the youngest in the world to undergo the procedure at shoulder-level, says Nilesh Mandlewala, the president of Donate Life NGO. The kidneys and liver of Riya were also donated to different beneficiaries. Along with her parents, Anamta came down to Valsad, a day before Raksha Bandhan, on Friday. Mandlewala said, 'It was an auspicious occasion today as families of Akil Ahmed (Anamta's father) and Bobby Mistry met each other along with their friends and relatives.' Bobby says he had no idea about the Rakhi celebrations planned by the NGO on whose request, the Ahmed family came down to Valsad. 'It was a surprise for us. I was out at work when my wife Trishna called me and asked me to come home early. My son and I arrived home at the same time on Friday afternoon. I found my house crowded with relatives, friends, and Donate Life members. I saw Akil Ahmed with his wife and daughter, and Anamta was also present. Seeing them, I was shocked. They told me they had come down to Valsad to tie the rakhi to Shivam. This was a memorable moment for us,' he adds. Describing the fateful day of November 2022 when Anamta was injured, her father Akil says, 'Anamta had gone to our native place in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh to stay with our relatives. While playing on the terrace of a house, she accidentally touched a high-tension electric wire passing nearby. She became unconscious and was admitted to the hospital. We brought her back to Mumbai, and Dr Nilesh Satbhai of Global Hospital told us that her right hand had to be amputated. Her left hand, too, was only 20% functional. She was in Class 10 at the time and her Board exams were approaching. We got her right hand amputated from the shoulder. After a few months, her left hand was operated upon.' Describing Anamta's recovery process, Akil says, 'Anamta watched exercise videos on YouTube and started working on her left hand. After continuous exercise, we could sense recovery. She felt pain but did not give up. Simultaneously, she also started practising writing. She resumed school and confidently attended her classes. In her Class 10 Board exams in 2023, she scored 92%.' Meanwhile, Akil got her name registered with Maharashtra SOTTO. 'On September 16, 2024, Dr Satbhai called and informed me about the donor – Riya. The operation was performed in Mumbai. Now, Anamta is more confident and uses both her hands properly. We thanked Bobby Mistry and his wife Trishna profusely,' says Akil. Anamta is now a Class 12 student at Mithibai College in Mumbai. In her free time, she makes social media content encouraging people to face adversities head-on. She has featured in several podcasts and is also a TEDx speaker.
