This was no ordinary mother-daughter duo – they are the pioneers who have put Sri Lanka well and truly on the transplant map. For they are the first donor-recipient pair of a 24-hour “living donor liver transplantation” that a trailblazing team of doctors from the Kelaniya Medical Faculty performed without much fanfare at the Nawaloka Hospital in Colombo on October 15.

As the New York City Marathon is flagged off this morning, there will be a determined son who will run in his mother’s memory. Among the 45,000 plus who have taken up the challenge, will be Sri Lankan Dayan Abeyaratne, 40, “to celebrate my mother’s exemplary courage” and also to recognize the generosity of all those who helped pay for the costly medications that kept her healthy enough to carry out her mission.