A Raksha Bandhan moment involving a social media creator has touched thousands online after she used the hand she received through a transplant to tie a rakhi to the brother of the girl who donated it.
Anamta, an electrocution survivor and social media influencer, lost her right hand in a devastating accident when she was just 13. Years later, the hand transplant not only gave her a new lease on life but also connected her to a family she now considers her own.
This Raksha Bandhan, Anamta visited the family of her late donor, nine-year-old Riya, and tied a rakhi to Riya’s older brother. The deeply personal gesture became even more emotional when Riya’s mother held Anamta’s transplanted hand and broke down in tears.
“At 13, I lost my right hand in an accident, due to electrocution. Years later, on Raksha Bandhan, that same hand was held by a grieving mother as she whispered, ‘Meri beti vapas aa gayi’,” Anamta told Humans of Bombay.
Anamta recalled that the accident happened in 2022 while she was visiting her aunt in Uttar Pradesh. She had gone to the terrace to play when she came into contact with an 11,000-volt live wire. The severe electrical burn left doctors with no option but to amputate her hand to prevent the infection from spreading.
She spent more than 50 days in hospital following the accident and initially struggled to cope with everything she had lost. But watching other patients in the burn ward continue fighting despite suffering even more severe injuries gave her the determination to rebuild her life.
She taught herself to write with her left hand, continued her studies and eventually scored 92% in her Class 10 examinations. Her resilience eventually led to an opportunity she had never imagined – an upper-limb transplant.
Doctors found a donor in nine-year-old Riya, who had tragically lost her life. Despite their grief, Riya’s parents chose to donate her hand, giving Anamta what she describes as a “second chance” at life. She went on to become the world’s youngest recipient of an upper-limb transplant.
For Anamta, however, the transplant gave her much more than physical recovery. Riya had an older brother, something Anamta had always wished for growing up, and the two families gradually developed a deeply emotional bond.
On Raksha Bandhan, Anamta decided to tie a rakhi to Riya’s brother using the very hand that had once belonged to his little sister. As she tied the thread around his wrist, Riya’s mother held her transplanted hand and became emotional. “Hamari Riya ghar aa gayi,” she whispered.
The moment left Anamta reflecting on how the little girl’s final gift had given her not only another chance at life but also a new family and a brother.
Sharing a video of the emotional Raksha Bandhan celebration on Instagram, Anamta wrote, “Some bonds are beyond blood, beyond religion, beyond words. A second life. A second family. And a rakhi tied with the hand that made it all possible. This is what Raksha Bandhan means to me. Happy Raksha Bandhan!”