A pair of devoted parents say their daughter's "soul will live on" after they agreed to donate her organs to give fresh hope to other families.
Dervisri Tavva was rushed to hospital on July 3, just a day after her sixth birthday, wheezing and unable to breath.
The battling youngster had been diagnosed with severe pulmonary hypertension - a form of high blood pressure affecting the arteries of the lungs - months earlier, with doctors warning it could claim her life at any moment.
Despite the tireless efforts of medical staff at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, she was declared brain dead. She died in hospital on July 14.
Even in their darkest hour, her family found solace in the fact their little "angel" could leave behind a lasting legacy.
"Our angel had come to our lives for a purpose and this was her purpose, to save the lives of others," said her father, Arunakumar Tavva, 37, told The National.
“This was the happiest moment in our lives. The moment we knew that her soul would live on through others. If years later, I look back at my life, this would be my proudest moment.
“We were told that she could die at any moment but we thought we had more time with her. The doctors at SKMC tried their best but it was her time.
“They did so many tests but she was gone already. I am glad I was there. We didn’t expect to lose her but because of God’s grace, I was there for her birth and I was there for her death.”
Poignant reminders of a "beautiful daughter" are all around the family home in Abu Dhabi.
Dervisri's birthday decorations are still hanging on the wall. Her stuffed toys are packed up in a corner along with a post-it note congratulating her for eating all her pancakes at lunch.
Her mother will never forget the birthday celebration they had for her just mere hours before she fell ill.
“I remember every moment and second of her life but that last thing I remember was her birthday,” Keerti Pusarla, 30, said.
“We’ve buried our daughter and she is no longer with us but her soul lives on.”
Her kidneys provided a lifeline to transplant patients at SKMC and in Saudi Arabia. It was SKMC’s first transplant carried out with an organ sourced from a patient at the hospital.
“We simply didn’t know about it (organ donation) but when doctors explained it to me at first, I immediately agreed,” said Mr Tavva.
“They kept asking us if we were sure of our decision and I kept telling them that I was positive. There is nothing more noble or selfless to do in our entire lives that this. In all the grief and pain we were feeling over losing our beautiful daughter, this gave us so much happiness. I can’t begin to describe it.
“People should do something good and selfless to society and organ donation is a selfless act that saves lives. After you die, your organs are of no use to you but there are thousands of people that need them.”
The family's two-bedroom apartment is quiet and sombre without Dervisri’s chatter and laughter. Her drawings have been taken down “but at least she gave someone else life and her soul lives on,” said her mother.
New laws permitting organ donation in the UAE have already saved the lives of dozens of people.
An issue over the legal definition of death meant transplants were previously restricted to organs taken from living donors and usually involved kidney operations.
A breakthrough came in March, 2017, when authorities agreed to a legislation framework that allowed transplants from deceased donors.
A single donor can save up to eight lives, with medics keen to drive up awareness of organ donation.
Details on how people can register as organ donors using their Emirates ID were revealed in January.
A database of donors signed up to the National Program for Organ Transplantation will be available to hospitals to monitor availability of organs in real time.
The Hayat application launched on day three of Arab Health in Dubai, the region’s largest healthcare conference.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
