Ailing hockey Olympian seeks kidney donor

NEW DELHI: Indian hockey Olympian Mohinder Pal Singh, who mastered converting penalty corners into goals in 1980s, is on dialysis as he has still not found a kidney donor. Both of Singh's kidneys are damaged and he has been searching for a donor for about a month.

Singh, 58, was admitted to the Apollo Hospital in south Delhi and discharged on Tuesday,, his wife Shivjeet said on Wednesday. He is at home and will be visiting the hospital a few times every week for dialysis.

A group of senior hockey Olympians sought a meeting with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday to put in a request for assistance to the ailing former penalty corner specialist. But the meeting couldn't take place as Rijiju was apparently not available. The meeting is now likely to take place on Thursday, a sports ministry source said.

The Olympians, including Maharaj Krishan Kaushik and Romeo James, besides Shivjeet, are going to request the Sports Minister to provide assistance to the full-back under Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons (PDUNWFS), and to also recommend Singh's name for immediate replacement of at least one kidney at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

Under PDUNWFS, the ministry provides assistance for medical treatment up to Rs 10 lakh for an "outstanding sportsperson or of any of his/her family members living in indigent circumstances". (IANS)

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