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Mountaineer Tarun Saikia battling kidney failure

By STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Feb 12 - Tarun Saikia, Assam�s first mountaineer to climb Mt Everest, has been battling double kidney failure and is currently undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai.

According to doctors, he is in urgent need of a kidney transplant.

Saikia was detected with kidney failure on January 26 at a private nursing home in Guwahati and flown to Chennai for better treatment on February 8. As the kidney transplant procedure entails a huge expenditure, his family is banking on support from the Government of Assam, well-wishers and the corporate.

�He did not show signs of such severe complications and had been active with mountaineering camps here and there till mid-January. He was part of a major expedition in the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh in September-October 2018. His first medical tests on January 26 showed his creatinine level to be very high at 9.3. He has been under dialysis since,� Badan Das, brother-in-law of Saikia told The Assam Tribune.

Das said the transplant would involve some lengthy legal procedures and they are hopeful of getting a kidney from a relative. �If that does not match, then only we will explore options of getting it from an outside donor,� he said.

Das said that with medical bills mounting, a few NGOs had come forward to help and started an online fund raising campaign. �But till now we have not got any cash from outside. We wrote to the Chief Minister but are yet to get any response,� he said. Saikia climbed Mt Everest on May 18, 2013 and his fellow mountaineer Manish Deka � also from Assam � also tipped the summit on May 25.

Between 1993 and 2012, Saikia climbed 11 peaks while attempting 16. Bhartkunda, Babisivling, Kedardom, Jogin, Nandadevi, Thalu, Kamet, Sudarshan, Bhagirathi, Mulkillah, Satotanth, Nepal Peak (Pre Everest), Papsura were some of the peaks where he made expeditions since 1993.

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