Months after transplantation gives her a new hand, Muslim teen from Mumbai ties Rakhi to brother of Hindu donor in Gujarat’s Valsad

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

Written by Kamal Saiyed

Surat | Updated: August 10, 2025 08:34 IST

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" (Express Photo)

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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