Kochi: When Dinoy Thomas, a driver based at Kaippadamugal near Kalamassery here, touches down a marathon track in Australia’s Perth on Sunday, he will be creating history. Thomas, 39, is the first Keralite to participate in the World Transplant Games.

The World Transplant Games are open to those who have received, heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, stem cells and bone marrow transplants. Australia is hosting the 24th edition of the event from April 15 to 21. The event is organised by the World Transplant Federation.

Thomas, who underwent a heart transplant 10 years ago at Lissie Hospital, Ernakulam, will be participating in a 5-km marathon slated for April 16. Thomas is accompanied by Dr Jo Joseph who has inspired him to attend the event. Dr Joseph was a part of the cardiologists’ team which performed the transplant on Thomas in 2013.

Tendulkar’s tweet

Dr Joseph found a potential candidate for the transplant games in Thomas after the latter successfully completed a 5-km run held as part of the Spice Coast Marathon in Kochi in December. It was Dr Joseph who motivated Thomas to participate in that event also. Thomas became a star after the event as cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who was at the venue, tweeted a picture with him, calling him ‘inspiring’.

Thomas underwent the heart transplant on September 20, 2013 after he was diagnosed with a condition called Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

“I went to the hospital with severe cough and breathing difficulties. Then I was diagnosed with the condition which demanded a transplant. We were in a shock then. I applied for the organ through the state government’s Mrithasanjeevani portal. The expenses for my surgery were met by a trust formed by the members of my church and local people,” Thomas told Onmanorama.

Thomas got a fresh lease of life with the heart of Libu, a cable network operator from Ayyanthol, Thrissur who was electrocuted during work. Thomas used to work as an autorickshaw driver then and now he is employed as a driver by Toyota at Kalamassery. In the evenings, he still drives his autorickshaw to find some extra income.

Why Thomas?

Dr Joseph said Thomas was picked for the Kochi marathon primarily because he was fit enough for the run. “After the transplant, Thomas lives an ordinary life and works regularly. So we wanted him to participate in the event to spread a message to the public. The fact that he lives in Kochi so that we could monitor his health easily also contributed to his selection,” the cardiologist said.

Thomas practices on the ground of the HMT School in his neighbourhood every morning. “I don’t have any trainer,” he said. Asked about his expectations of the Perth event, he said, “I just hope that I can finish the run.”

Heartcare Foundation, headed by veteran cardiologist Dr Jose Chacko Periappuram has taken initiative for Thomas’ trip. The travel expenses are sponsored by the Nippon Toyota Group. Dr Periyappuram, who led the transplant surgery, had recently hailed Thomas’s life as a reply to the false propaganda that those who undergo organ transplants are unable to live a normal life.

Dr Joseph said the foremost aim of making Thomas participate in the event is to send out a message to the public about the effectiveness of organ transplants. “There are a lot of misinformation spread around organ transplants and the life after that. Such propaganda have to be busted. Also those who undergo transplant have to be convinced that they can do a pretty normal life. We want to send more people to the next editions of the event from Kerala. If Thomas, who had a heart transplant, can participate in the sporting event, then those who had transplants like kidney and liver can easily do that,” he said.

Innocent’s laughter and Rajeeve’s laptop

Thomas has found moral support from the state government ahead of his journey to Perth. At a function recently, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had handed over a jersey to him. Ministers P Rajeeve and M B Rajesh were also present on the occasion.

Rajeeve had extended a helping hand to Thomas in the past also. When he was unable to drive for sometime after the transplant, Rajeeve, then a Rajya Sabha MP, had gifted a laptop to him to do some data entry job. Thomas had found support from actor Innocent, who recently passed away, during the toughest days of his life. It was Innocent who encouraged Thomas to undergo the surgery without any fear as the actor visited him at the hospital and instilled confidence in him with his signature humorous style.

With only a few months into a decade of his ‘new life’, Thomas is all thankful to all those who supported him during the crisis of a lifetime. He lives at Kaippadamugal, in the outskirts of Kochi city, with his wife Sheena, daughter Aleena and son Adorn. Asked about the campaigns against organ donation which surfaces on social media here and then and even in some mainstream films, Thomas had a firm and convincing answer: “I’m alive just because I received an organ for transplant at the right time. We should do everything to promote organ donation.”