Chennai, Sep 17 - In Tamil his name means carrier of fame. But what Pugazhendi, a one and a half year old boy actually carried to this world was a second life for his elder sister who suffered from thalassaemia, and in the process achieved fame.

Pugazhendi and his sister Thamira's case is India's first successful stem cell transplant story.

Every year 10,000 children with thalassaemia are born in India, which constitutes 10 percent of the total number in the world. One out of every eight carriers of the disease worldwide live in India.

It was Pugazhendi's umbilical cord blood stem cell that cured his sister Thamira of the fatal disease.

Today their joyous parents Senthil Kumar and Sarojini are heaving a sigh of relief. They no longer have to endure the pain of their daughter, who was suffering from the blood disorder for the past seven years. Thalassaemia is passed genetically.

The disorder results in the destruction of red blood cells and causes severe anemia that can occur within months following birth.

The diseased person has to undergo monthly blood transfusions. If left untreated, severe anemia can result, as well as other common physical complications that can lead to a dramatically decreased life-expectancy.

A team of doctors in Chennai and Coimbatore used Pugazhendi's umbilical cord blood to cure his sister's disease.

Tracing their family's poignant story, Kumar, a carpenter said Thamira was a normal girl for one and a half years after her birth.

'Then one day she went pale and the doctors uttered the dreaded word thalassaemia. That was the first time I heard the word.'

Kumar and his wife were shattered to hear that their tender daughter had to undergo monthly blood transfusions. Adding to their worry was the cost.

Sarojini aborted her next two pregnancies fearing the child would also suffer from the disease.