CHENNAI: When B Mariammal tore a a ligament during a practice match a few days ago, many thought the career of the 19-year-old national football team striker would end abruptly. But her father Balamurugan, 50, and arthroscopic surgeon Dr M Leonard Ponraj were determined not to let that happen.
As soon as Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu secretary Apoorva referred her to the head (arthroscopy and sports injury department) of Tamil Nadu government multi super-speciality hospital, Dr Ponraj did not waste any time in deciding to perform an allograft (transplant of an organ, tissue, or cells from one individual to another) on Mariammal.
“She suffered a complete anterior cruciate ligament tear in the left knee. She is a left footer and hence it is a career-threatening injury. There are options of performing an autograft (using the patient’s own tissue for surgical reconstruction procedure). But we prefer to perform allograft on sportspersons to ensure that the surgical procedure does not hamper their performance. Allograft transfer can be done only from the father or the mother of the patient,” said the doctor.
The surgeon harvested 88mm graft from the right knee of Balamurugan and transplanted it on the left knee of Mariammal during a more than two-hour surgery on Friday. “Both patient and donor are fine and mobile. She can play again for the country in six months,” said the doctor.
