Connect via blood: The legacy of Panduke’s battle with Leukaemia
View(s):You might die from cancer, but never let it kill you. It changes your lifestyle, but it cannot change you
– Panduke Jayawardane
These were not mere words for Panduke Jayewardene, he knew what he was talking about. The battle he fought, a fight for life made him wiser.
Panduke was only 22 years of age when he first got to know that he was a victim of Leukemia, in 2010.
The youngest in a family of three with two elder sisters, Panduke was a bright student of Nalanda College who finished his studies in the science stream and joined the ‘Graduate Institute of Science Management’ (GISM) for his BBS. He was not physically strong enough to fly to New Zealand to finish his degree, so he stopped at diploma level for the moment. In a world where we complain of exams and stress, Panduke inhaled his dose of oxygen for the day and sat for the exam. In fact, he topped his batch at the diploma level.
If you can’t change the situation, change the way you deal with it – In 2010, the year he was diagnosed with leukaemia, he had his bone marrow surgery in India with one of his sisters as his donor. He returned home in August and seemed to do much better!
He continued writing for the magazine, ‘This That and the Other’, founded by the charity organisation called ‘The Blood Group’ and he was even a nominee for ‘V Awards’ last year. A writer, singer and photographer, Panduke’s single, ‘Mage laga idala’; a tribute to his sister was a major hit. His creativity was awarded with a D5100 from Mobitel’s “Moment of care” short video contest. His note, ‘Leukaemia my love’ was published in the Sunday Times and two other articles; ‘Life-line’ and ‘Fallen Heroes’ were published in Daily Mirror.
Fighting cancer is like watching a mega -teledrama - Things took a wrong turn from this point. He suddenly fell sick again. Though he defeated leukaemia, the after effects of medicine got out of hand. His appetite worsened and his weight dropped. He was back on oxygen. Nights were spent at the intensive care. Days were spent uncertain of tomorrow.
On October 27, just two months prior to his 25th birthday, Panduke Jayawardane passed away. Never accept the reality until your dream is over
Panduke knew by personal experience how hard it is to find blood donors. Though 78 donors came forward to give him blood, he knew it wasn’t the same for everyone. This inspired him to establish ‘The Blood Group’ a charity organisation mainly focused on blood donations. The 4th annual blood donation; ‘Unseen Heroes’ was held on December 21, the day after Panduke’s 25th birthday.
The donation held at the National Blood Bank, Narahenpita was recorded as the largest in-house donation held in the Blood Bank. 140 donors gathered and gave blood. One donor’s blood can save three. Panduke may have left us, but his legacy lives on…
-Raneesha de Silva