 "Exclusive | From last stage kidney failure at 9 to a triple world champion at 13: Varun Anand’s incredible story")
“One day he was suddenly down with a bad stomach ache. Now, that happened to be an exam day for him. So, my husband and I began to joke that this was his way of trying to not take the exam. But he told us that he was genuinely in a lot of pain. So, we rushed him to the hospital and they did tests and that’s when the doctor told us about his condition. Initially we were not even able to fully digest or understand what the condition was, because it was all new to us.”
It’s never easy for a mother to recall the extremely painful time when her child was diagnosed with a serious medical condition. But Deepa Savithri is an absolute rock. Her incredibly positive attitude towards life, her children and family overall has played a huge role in helping her older son, Varun, get through something almost unimaginable – being diagnosed with last stage kidney failure at the age of nine. That and the fact that she was the one who donated one of her kidneys to Varun.
This is the story of Deepa – someone who I quickly realised is an extremely protective, yet encouraging and supportive mother and a brave organ donor. And her incredible son, Varun – who fought kidney failure to go onto become a three-time World Champion, at the age of just thirteen.
“Varun is our first child. He is multi-talented and was hyper-active. We didn’t expect anything like this (kidney disease) to happen. No one in the family has any history of such diseases. What happened was – Varun has a younger brother and compared to him Varun was a little physically weaker. We had noticed this and had asked a doctor about this as well – if Varun needed some food supplements or something like that and the doctor told us – ‘this is a very normal thing, why are you worrying about it?’
“Now, what happens is, usually when doctors ask for blood tests they don’t ask for (tests to check) urea and creatinine (waste product of muscle metabolism which is filtered out of the blood system by the kidneys. High creatinine levels could indicate kidney problems) tests. So, when we found out about Varun’s condition it was already the last stage. Up to the third stage, it can be reversed, but Varun had reached the last stage,” Deepa told Firstpost in an exclusive interaction from her home in Bengaluru.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsUndergoing four months of dialysis at just nine years of age
Varun was just nine years old when he was diagnosed with the condition. He had to undergo four months of dialysis. Varun and his parents had to visit the hospital multiple times and it was soon apparent that Varun would need a kidney transplant. Deepa stepped up to be the donor and their kidneys were a match.
The surgery was a success, but the nightmare didn’t end there. Varun soon developed post-surgery complications. There were several episodes of new organ rejection, followed by New Onset Diabetes After Transplant (NODAT). This is quite a common post-transplant complication, especially after kidney transplants, and increases the risks of infection and other, more serious, complications.
“…there are (also) so many legal things to take care of and as a donor I also had to do multiple blood tests. There are so many things to do for a transplant. And once the surgery was done, again Varun had so many complications, but he overcame all of it,” Deepa shared.
Varun was very fortunate to get some very good care at the Rainbow Children’s Hospital in Marathahalli, Bengaluru, under the expert supervision of Dr. Saumil Gaur – who the family will always revere. Good medical care, a lot of self-belief and prayers saw Varun recover fully. And once that happened, slowly he made his way back to the playing field.
“My original sport – the one that I began with – was badminton. I was around 9-10 years old when I started playing badminton. After that I had to take a break because of the transplant surgery. I like cricket a lot. Every Indian likes cricket. But cricket is bad for me, because there are more chances of injuries in that sport. So, my doctor and my parents discussed it and said – ‘why don’t you play racquet sports?” Varun Anand told Firstpost in an exclusive interview.
“For my sports career so far, most of the credit goes to my coaches and my dad.”
If you are wondering what exactly Varun has achieved in sports, the simplest answer is that he is a three-time World Champion and that too in one edition of a global sporting event. That’s right. It sounds too good to be true, but it is. Varun, who is 15 years old, won as many as three gold medals at the World Transplant Games in 2023, in Perth. At the age of thirteen he represented India in his age category (13-15) in badminton, tennis and table tennis. Even today, when he thinks about what he had gone through as a nine-year-old and where he is today, Varun finds it surreal.
“That phase was very, very challenging. At that time, I went through the motions, but when I think about it now – ‘how did I go from being a sick child to becoming a World Champion?’
Discovering the World Transplant Games
So, how did Varun become a World Champion?
That is where the World Transplant Games (WTG) plays such a big role for organ recipients and donors. The WTG provides a global platform for donors and recipients to showcase their sporting skills, while representing their countries in an international, multi-sport World Championship. For Varun, going to the WTG was a life-changing experience. A true watershed moment in his life.
The World Transplant Games is organised every two years by the World Transplant Games Federation (WTGF), which is recognised by the International Olympic Committee. Organ transplant recipients and living donors are both eligible to compete in these Games. For recipients, anyone who has received a solid organ transplant - liver, heart, lung, kidney, pancreas or bone marrow – is eligible to compete.
The first edition of the Games was held in Portsmouth, England in 1978. About 100 athletes from UK, France, Germany and Greece took part in these Games. Needless to say, the Games have gone from strength to strength. The 2023 edition in Perth saw participation from over 60 countries and was held for a week. During the Games, there are also ceremonies to honour the families of deceased and living donors.
“One day I was just roaming around the house and my dad called me and said – ‘Varun, there’s something very important – you are going to represent India, so better start training now.’ This was just three months before the Games (in 2023), so my dad said – ‘Chop, chop, let’s start going.’ First up we bought basic, but improved gear for the sports I am playing. Luckily the Games were during my summer holidays (from school). One some days my father would call all his friends over and ask them to play with me. I got a lot of experience, because playing with one person won’t help you,” Varun recalled.
Training, and mastering, three different racquet sports
The whole family was focussed on making Varun a better athlete. Everyone pitched in whichever way they could. Badminton was something Varun was very familiar with, but for table tennis and tennis, he needed proper coaching.
“For TT, I set up a schedule with my coach. Sometime, say on Mondays, sometime around evening snacks. On school days, say Tuesdays, Thursdays and also Saturdays, we would play and then on Saturday and Sunday, if we had some time, we would play some more. My tennis coach, Vignesh sir – he teaches me on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, usually around 6-6:30 PM. These are combined classes, with others and then again on Saturday and Sunday morning from 8-10:30 AM. These experiences helped me a lot. Vignesh sir also had some tricks up his sleeve which helped me a lot at the WTG,” Varun told Firstpost.
Varun, in an extremely honest interaction, told me that he has never been really sporty. But what the WTG gave him was so much more than just a chance to play. It was a chance for him to represent India and also to prove to himself that he can still very much lead a normal life, even after undergoing a transplant surgery at a very young age.
“That time I was in the eighth grade. It felt so good to win something so big, especially for India. Not for your state or at the Nationals, but for the country. That was a pretty big experience, but I feel that winning a medal is not just about the celebration that follows or showing it off. It’s about the overall experience you have – of playing with the other athletes, the experience that you earn by playing with others. Meeting new people who have the same condition – that was the real essence of the experience I had at the WTG.
“Being a World Champion is a pretty great experience and feeling. Even for people who don’t win a medal, but who have participated at the WTG, (the experience) is quite unique. Representing India after a transplant, that is a very, very big thing. So, kudos to everyone who have done it,” Varun added.
For Varun, the opportunity to represent his country at the WTG came at a time when both he and his family knew that he needed something to not just take his mind off things, but also something that would act as a catalyst to nudge him towards a more active life, which in turn would mean things returning to a more “normal” state of affairs.
“We kept him (Varun) as a very protected child for a year after the transplant – made him wear masks etc. For about two years it was like he was in a cage, which is why when he went for the WTG, it was almost like he was flying again. Two years after the transplant (at the age of eleven) he began to take (sports) coaching and was overall mentally fitter as well and was able to do more. It was a difficult stage, but we were able to overcome it…. I want to tell everybody that if you have a transplant child, don’t keep them locked up. Let them do more. Treat them like any other normal kid,” Deepa shared.
As it so often happens, an ordeal often makes a family more tightly knit. As for Varun, the nightmarish phase he had to go through was followed by a phase of introspection and quick maturity. And sports played a big role in that.
“He was naughty before the transplant. Now he is a mature teenager. He has become calmer and has the spirit now – of overcoming any failure that comes his way. I always say – ‘there’s no point in sitting down and crying about things. Just continue to try your best,” Varun’s mother further said.
Varun, whose sporting heroes are Novak Djokovic, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, knew, from the time he began playing different racquet sports that the path ahead would not be an easy one. But more than anything, sports gave him an avenue to not just express himself, but also to break the shackles – both physical and psychological – that were holding him back.
“It was tough to pick up the sports. There was stress and the initial phase was a tough one. You start focussing so much on the game that you forget the main reason you began playing – to learn. I picked up the different sports slowly Luckily, my TT coach – she gave me the highest priority. She made me work for six-seven hours on some days. Tennis also was the same story,” Varun said.
Helping Varun and his family, at almost every step, on his post-transplant journey was the Organ Receiving & Giving Awareness Network (ORGAN) India, which was launched in 2013 – an organisation that has steadfastly supported all Indian transplant athletes who have represented the country at the WTG.
Setting sights on Dresden 2025
Varun is currently in the 10th standard. It is a Board examination year, but Varun’s next biggest target is the upcoming Summer WTG in Dresden, Germany.
The next edition of the Games will run from August 17-24. Athletes from as many as 60 countries are expected to participate again in these Games and Varun, by virtue of being a gold medallist from the last edition (2023), has already secured qualification, in his age category, in all three racquet sports that he plays – badminton, TT and tennis.
According to the World Transplant Games Federation, the Games have a programme which will feature both high-exertion, as well as low-impact sports and is an attempt – “to celebrate the Gift of Life and show the positive impact of organ donation.”
The participation of Indian athletes at the WTG – some of whom I spoke to and have interacted with in recent times as part of this series – also throws rather poor light on organ donation, overall, in India. It’s not a secret that organ donation rates in India are extremely low. According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, a survey conducted showed that most people in the country are willing to be registered as organ donors. But the study also states - “the actual organ donation rates of 0.16 per million population in India are abysmally low as compared to America’s 26 and Spain’s 35.”
In many cases, it’s a family member or loved one who comes forward to donate an organ. What the country needs more of are healthy people volunteering to be organ donors post-death and also people agreeing to donate harvestable organs of deceased family members. Varun’s story is another reminder of what organ donation can give not just the recipient, but his/her family and friends.
“There are some things that you have to take care of, of course. Like Varun has to drink 4-5 litres of water every day, so I follow him around with water. We are like Tom and Jerry. A normal child will drink 2.5–3 litres of water (per day), maximum. But apart from that there’s no difference between him (Varun) and any other child. Earlier his younger brother (Vaibhav) would go out to play and he would stay at home. Now both boys go out and play,” Varun’s mother further said.
And in most cases the donor is also fully capable of continuing a normal life.
“Varun had so many ups and downs after the transplant surgery, that I didn’t really think about my health. But his positivity rubbed off on me and as of now there is no issue.”
Varun’s parents have already informed his school that he will be focussing completely on the upcoming WTG in Germany, which are around the corner now, and his preparation for those Games right. And once those Games are over, he will switch focus to his academics. The school wouldn’t have any problems with that, considering Varun is one of their star pupils. After all, how many schools can boast of having a current World Champion on their student rolls?
“After I won the three gold medals in Perth, there was a lot of excitement amongst everybody here, including at school. After that everything went back to normal. The good thing is that there are no paparazzi here!” Varun remarked.
‘One must do something in their life’
Varun’s favourite subjects in school are – English, History and Math and in what is another clear sign of his maturity, Varun decided, about two years ago, that he would pursue a career in entrepreneurship. It is a decision that his parents support to the hilt.
“From when I was a child, I wanted to be an IAS officer, but it didn’t happen. But I have always believed that one must do something in their life. Before the WTG came into our lives, Varun would say – ‘I can’t do anything because of my condition.’ Once the opportunity came up, I told him – ‘This is the chance. You try your best. Talk to people there (at the Games) and that will motivate you.’
“There are so many different kinds of people at the WTG. Some who have had 2-3 transplants and yet they are also participating. So just imagine how strong they are,” Deepa, the ever-supportive and encouraging mother and a real force, along with her husband, behind Varun’s success, said.
“I believe that we have one life and that means that you have to enjoy your life. I don’t know whether life will be short or long, but let him enjoy and do his best.”
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
