Social media has his own pros and cons and when it’s about saving someone’s life, it is definitely an advantage. Prasanna Gopinath, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Chennai, went the whole distance and donated a lobe of his liver to save the life of a friend who he had last met in the United Kingdom in 2005. Prasanna and Nirmiti, Pooja and her husband Anurag were housemates in U.K where they were all studying. But once they got back to India and settled in different cities, they lost touch.

Pooja, a teacher who is now 44, developed liver cirrhosis soon after she returned to the country. This year, however, her health deteriorated and doctors made it clear that a liver transplant is the only way out. Anurag ran from post to pillar, in an effort to save his wife and finally put out a message on social media describing the struggle.

That is when Prasanna came into the picture.”As soon as we saw the Facebook post, my wife and I reached out to Anurag,” says Prasanna. “There were no second thoughts about it. We really wanted to help,” he adds.

Nirmiti was the first one to get tested for the transplant, but she failed to qualify. “One of the main problems Indians face is fatty liver. So I could not be of help. But then Prasanna decided to give it a go and passed all the required tests,” says Nirmiti. The couple shuttled between Chennai and New Delhi to complete the required tests.