Mirani Jash Ram, 13

School: St. Patrick’s School

Topic: Your organ transplant journey as a teenager

Award: Merit, Junior Category, 2024

Life 2.0

I sat with the other nominees waiting for the results of the most prestigious award of football with my hands clammy and my hair drenched in cold sweat. I looked up to the skies and thought, “Today might just be the day I will be the best footballer in the world.” Just then my name was announced and I went up on stage to receive the award that had been bestowed upon me. The hall filled with thunderous applause as the reporter asked me, “What inspired you to be the best footballer in the world?” I chuckled as I narrated my bittersweet story from the very start.

My childhood had never been a fairy tale. Since birth, I had been plagued with a congenital heart defect due to which I often felt weak and never wanted to take up sports - focusing more on academics was more my thing. My best friend however was worlds apart from me. He was very athletic and with no surprise the best footballer of my school and the rising star of Singapore too. Dominic always dreamt of being the best football player in the world while my desire was to just be a mediocre scientist. Despite being worlds apart, Dominic and I were like two peas in a pod.

Every time I went for check-ups or had the rare attack, my parents and Dominic would always support me. I had not had an attack for a long time so I thought my condition was contained. Or so I thought.

Then, one Monday, I felt a searing pain in my heart and my lungs winced with every breath I took. When I tried to walk, my legs felt like jelly and so I collapsed into a pathetic heap. My mother was a practical thinker so she kept her cool and whisked my away to the nearest hospital in a car. The hospital felt like an eerie place with sad energy seeping out of it. When the experienced doctors diagnosed my heart, they looked bewildered as they said I had to undergo an organ transplant in the next few days or else it would be too late.I could not fathom what he had just spoken. I groaned in agony as they whisked me to a bed. I just had to close my eyes. Just once. And then the pain would go away. Death felt like a salvation. Death felt like my saviour. Life was the one tormenting me.

When I had almost given up hope, Dominic came and strengthened my resolve. He promised me that the sun would shine on me once again. A day passed by without any news on a donor. Almost condemned to death, I began to marvel at the little things life had to offer such as a simple old flower. Just then, the doctors spoke: “We have found someone who has been involved in a car accident in our vicinity. Their blood types match and the donor has consented to the transplant.”

Just like that, the operation was a success and I could lead a healthy life. A second life. I asked the doctors to give me the number of the donor’s family as I wanted to thank them for their noble sacrifice. I found out that the donor had been none other than Dominic. Upon realising the sad truth, I felt like my heart had yet another gaping hole impossible to fill. Why did Dominic had to go? It was not fair. I was filled with fury and despair. It was too soon for him to go.

Determined, I looked up to the skies and told him, “With this new heart - with your heart, I will fulfil your dream of being the world’s best footballer. That is my promise.” And so began the rocky road to success. With furious resilience and utter hard work, I was going to make it happen. Within a few years’ time I was the best football player in my country and had been amazing for my club, making me eligible as a nominee for the world’s most prestigious football award.

After every goal and every milestone I achieved, I would look up to the heavens and salute my saviour, Dominic. “…And I am afraid that’s it,” I told the reporter. The hall broke into tumultuous applause thinking my story had ended. They did not know it had just begun. Life had thrown me a second chance. There was no way I was letting it go.

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2024 are those of the participants and are not endorsed by the National Organ Transplant Unit (Ministry of Health).

To learn more about organ donation and organ transplantation in Singapore, please visit www.liveon.gov.sg