Tamil Nadu: Father Donates Eyes Of Children Who Died In Mettupalayam Wall Collapse

Going beyond his grief, Selvaraj, who lost his son and daughter when a wall in Nadur village of Mettupalayam collapsed on them, has decided to donate the eyes of his children.

On Monday, December 2, the compound wall had collapsed on a row of houses in Coimbatore’s Mettupalayam, killing 17. Selvaraj’s children – Nivetha (18) and Ramanathan (15) – were among the diseased.

“I was told that eye donation was possible, and I immediately agreed. Their bodies may go back to the earth or may be given to fire. This way, if their eyes are of help to two people, isn’t that a good deed?” the father was quoted in The News Minute.

The children had lost their mother seven years ago after she fell from a building in Mettupalayam. They were then raised by Selvaraj’s sister-in-law, Sivakami. On the day of the incident, the children were sleeping at Sivakami’s house in Nadur.

When the kids’ bodies were kept at the government Mettupalayam hospital on Monday, Selvaraj was approached by a team of doctors from Aravind Eye Hospital, seeking his consent for donating the children’s eyes. He immediately agreed to the donation.

“Shortly after the accident, some well-wishers suggested that I donate the eyes of my children. They said it will help blind people. As my children were young, their eyes would also be healthy. I wanted to help others. I am the first person in the village to sign up for organ donation,” Selvaraj was quoted in The Times Of India.

Selvaraj works at a teashop in Jadayampalayam Pudur. Nivedha was a first-year student of BCom (CA) at the Government Arts College in Mettupalayam and Ramanathan was in class X at a government school.

Meanwhile, the Coimbatore police on Tuesday arrested Textile shop owner Sivasubramanian who had raised the compound wall around his property. The 20-foot compound wall was constructed using basalt rocks. After the wall collapsed, various political and Dalit organisations had held protests seeking a probe into the issue.

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