{"id":40018,"date":"2025-08-09T15:09:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T09:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2025\/08\/09\/raksha-bandhan-celebration-turns-historic-as-donate-life-unites-hindu-and-muslim-hearts\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T15:09:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T09:39:02","slug":"raksha-bandhan-celebration-turns-historic-as-donate-life-unites-hindu-and-muslim-hearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2025\/08\/09\/raksha-bandhan-celebration-turns-historic-as-donate-life-unites-hindu-and-muslim-hearts\/","title":{"rendered":"Raksha Bandhan Celebration Turns Historic as Donate Life Unites Hindu and Muslim Hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>Surat (Gujarat) [India], August 9: <\/strong>An extraordinary moment that embodies love, emotion, and humanity has touched hearts across the nation today. In September 2024, 9-year-old Riya Boby Mistry was declared brain-dead at Surat\u2019s Kiran Hospital. Through the noble efforts of Donate Life, her hands were donated \u2014 marking a historic milestone, as Riya became the youngest child in the world to donate hands at such a tender age.<\/p>\n<p>Riya\u2019s right hand was successfully transplanted by Dr. Nilesh Satbhai at Global Hospital, Mumbai, into 15-year-old Anamta Ahmed, a resident of Goregaon. This wasn\u2019t just a miracle for one family, but a revival of love and hope for two. Through this transplant, not only did a new life bloom, but today, the essence of sisterly love came alive once more in the life of Riya\u2019s own brother.<\/p>\n<p>The moment Anamta tied the rakhi on Shivam\u2019s wrist was filled with overwhelming emotion. With tears in their eyes, Riya\u2019s family watched as the hands of their beloved daughter tied the sacred thread on her brother. \u201cRiya is gone, but her touch isn\u2019t,\u201d said a family member.\u201d Today, Shivam had a rakhi tied by those very hands.\u201d Through this powerful gesture, an unbreakable thread of emotion, memory, and love was woven \u2014 beyond loss, beyond words.<\/p>\n<p>Stepping into the delicate phase of youth, Anamta didn\u2019t just receive a pair of hands \u2014 she was given wings, gifted in the name of Riya. Her entire family holds deep gratitude towards Riya\u2019s loved ones, Donate Life, and the team of doctors who made this miracle possible. And so, this Raksha Bandhan, Anamta Ahmed travelled to Valsad \u2014 not just to fulfil a tradition, but to honour a sacred debt. When she tied the Rakhi on Shivam\u2019s wrist \u2014 with the very hands that once belonged to Riya, his late sister \u2014 an extraordinary Raksha Bandhan was born. This act of organ donation, through Riya\u2019s hands, became a divine symbol this Raksha Bandhan \u2014 a true embodiment of both Ishwar and Allah\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-51838\" src=\"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><\/p>\n<p>At R.J.J. School in Valsad, Shivam, a 10th-grade student and brother of the late Riya, found himself overwhelmed with emotion. He kept gently touching the hands of his beloved younger sister, now living through Anamta Ahmed, whose arms had been amputated up to the shoulders and replaced through a successful transplant with Riya\u2019s donated hands. With every touch, the familiar warmth of Riya seemed to come alive again. In that tender moment, it felt as if his little sister hadn\u2019t left \u2014 she was right there, holding his hand once more.<br \/>\nRiya\u2019s parents, Bobby and Trishna, shared their heartfelt emotions, saying, \u201cIt feels as if Riya has returned to us. Her Rakhi\u2026 her touch\u2026 it all feels so real, so alive once more.\u201d They gently held Anamta\u2019s hands \u2014 the very hands once belonging to their daughter \u2014 and embraced her as their own, pouring out love and affection as if\u00a0Riya herself had come home.<\/p>\n<p>Anamta Ahmed shared, \u201cI have no words to truly express my gratitude to Riya\u2019s family.\u201d In October 2022, I lost my right arm up to the shoulder due to an electric shock \u2014 and with it, I lost all light in my life. Everything felt dark and hopeless.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Thought<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Riya\u2019s passing became a blessing \u2014 a sacred offering that united two families, two faiths, and two hearts. In the hands Riya once called her own lived a bond reborn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRiya may be gone, but her touch lingers\u2026 Today, it was with those very hands that a sister tied Rakhi to her brother \u2014 love reborn, through loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On 17th September 2024, the hands of 9-year-old Riya Boby Mistry were donated through Donate Life. When those hands were transplanted onto me, it felt like my life had been given a second chance \u2014 a brand-new beginning. And today, with those very hands, I tied a Rakhi on Riya\u2019s brother. In Shivam, I\u2019ve found a brother\u2026 and in Riya\u2019s memory, a bond that will live forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Nilesh Mandalewala, President of Donate Life, shared, \u201cThis is not just a celebration of Raksha Bandhan \u2014 it is a powerful message to the world that humanity is the greatest religion of all.\u201d<br \/>\nFrom the skies above to the earth below, from temples to mosques \u2014 it wasn\u2019t the echo of any one religion, but the resounding call of humanity that stirred every heart present.<\/p>\n<p>Through the efforts of Donate Life, a total of 1,336 organs and tissues have been donated \u2014 including 542 kidneys, 235 livers, 57 hearts, 52 lungs, 9 pancreases, 8 hands, 1 small intestine, and 432 pairs of eyes.<br \/>\nThese life-saving donations have brought new life and vision to 1,232 individuals across India and abroad, offering them not just survival \u2014 but a renewed chance at living with dignity\u00a0and\u00a0hope.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Surat (Gujarat) [India], August 9: An extraordinary moment that embodies love, emotion, and humanity has touched hearts across the nation today. In September 2024, 9-year-old Riya Boby Mistry was declared brain-dead at Surat\u2019s Kiran Hospital. Through the noble efforts of Donate Life, her hands were donated \u2014 marking a historic milestone, as Riya became the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2025\/08\/09\/raksha-bandhan-celebration-turns-historic-as-donate-life-unites-hindu-and-muslim-hearts\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Raksha Bandhan Celebration Turns Historic as Donate Life Unites Hindu and Muslim Hearts&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[635],"class_list":["post-40018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}