As veteran actor KPAC Lalitha has been hospitalised for a few weeks now with liver-related ailments, her daughter Srikutty Bharathan also known as Shree Menon, has sought help online from people willing to donate a part of their liver.
Srikutty’s appeal form seeking liver donors has been shared on social media by several artists and technicians. In the appeal form, she says, “My mother, Smt. K.P.A.C Lalitha, is now very critically ill with liver cirrhosis. She is in urgent need of a liver transplant immediately as a life-saving measure. Her blood group is O +ve. Any healthy adult with O +ve can donate a part of their liver to save her.”
She further added that the ideal donor should be 20 to 50 years of age. The donor should be non-diabetic, non-alcoholic and should not have any major illness. Explaining in brief about the transplant process, Srikutty said that organs can only be donated after an extensive test and after ensuring absolute safety for the donor. She also added that only a portion of the liver from living persons is taken for transplantation.
Noting that the liver in living persons has remarkable regenerative capacities, she said that in the case of liver donors, the small portion taken out for transplant will generate fully. “Only those willing to donate for non-commercial and altruistic purposes will be accepted,” she added. According to a report by The New Indian Express, the spokesman of the Kochi hospital where the actor is undergoing treatment, said Lalitha was “slowly regaining” but requires a liver transplant.
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On Wednesday, the Kerala state government said that it had decided to bear the costs of veteran actor KPAC Lalitha’s medical treatment. Following the announcement, a lot of people criticised the decision and questioned the government for spending lakhs on the actor while the poor were denied such assistance. In response to this criticism, Minister V Abdurahman said that Lalitha doesn’t have as much savings as people think and gets only a meagre amount from acting, Keralakaumudi reported.
As per the report, the minister noted that the government decided to meet her medical expenses after she sought help for the treatment. The government had helped many ordinary people, he added. He further said that the government cannot avoid artists because they are the assets of the State. “It is the same in the case of athletes and those from the cultural fields also. Whoever applies to the chief minister for medical help will be aided,” he said. He added that the poor will not be rejected.