Karachi: A 17-year-old boy who survived for nearly a decade on a donated kidney has, in death, illuminated two lives by donating both his eyes, turning a sudden family tragedy into an enduring act of hope and humanity.
Sher Ali Taheem, a Karachi based student, was brought to Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage and remained in intensive care for two days before doctors declared him brain dead.
Despite the shock and grief, his family consented to corneal donation, allowing doctors to restore sight to two blind patients.
Sher Ali’s bond with SIUT ran deep and personal. At the age of eight, he received a kidney transplant at the institute, donated by his mother, which functioned well for almost ten years and allowed him a normal childhood and teenage life.
In recent months, the transplanted kidney began to fail and he had become dialysis dependent while awaiting a second transplant. His father had earlier donated a kidney to a nephew, making organ donation a lived value within the family rather than a distant concept.
After Sher Ali’s death, SIUT’s transplant team carried out corneal transplants on January 7, restoring vision to a 45 year old man and a 21 year old student. For both recipients, the donation marked a return to independence and possibility after years of darkness.
Doctors at SIUT described the family’s decision as an extraordinary act of courage made at the most painful moment imaginable. They said the donation once again showed how a single choice can transform loss into life for others.
Paying tribute, Prof Adib Rizvi, founding director of SIUT, said that thinking of others while mourning a child represented the highest form of humanity. He urged society to embrace deceased organ donation so that many more lives could be healed, saved and given a second chance.
Sher Ali’s story now stands as a rare circle of giving, a child who lived because of a donated organ and, in his final act, became a donor himself. In doing so, he left behind not just memories, but light for two strangers who will see the world because of him.
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