Bengaluru: A 17-year-old boy met with a road accident and was admitted at Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road on 12 January 2017. He was declared brain dead on 19 January 2017.
The victim suffered a head injury in the accident along with multiple fractures and abdominal soft tissue injury. The patient being the only son was survived by his sister and mother. While bearing the trauma of losing a child, the mother agreed to donate her son’s organs giving a new lease of life to four other needy people.
The organs donated and retrieved by the hospital are his heart, liver, kidneys and corneas. One kidney was donated to a 44-year-old man who was undergoing dialysis for past five years. The transplant took place between 12 am and 3:30 am on 20 January 2017. Dr Mohan Keshavamurthy, Director Urology, Uro-Oncology, Andrology and Transplant Surgeon, Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, conducted the kidney transplant. The patient’s condition is stable and will recover completely within the next 10 days. After failing to receive a related kidney due to clinical incompatibility, approximately three years ago, the recipient signed up for the cadaveric kidney programme hoping to receive a donor soon.
Parallely, the teenager’s heart was being transported to a private hospital in the city by creating a green corridor at 10.55 pm. And also his liver, corneas and his second kidney were transported to another private hospital in the city under the supervision of ZCCK (Zonal Coordination Committee for transplants in Karnataka).
Dr. Mohan Keshavamurthy adds, “A kidney is considered to be fit enough for transplant within 24 hours of ischemic time but is always best to transplant it at the earliest. In this case, the advantage was that the donor and the recipient were available in the same hospital and the transplant was done within three and a half hours which helps in optimal kidney functioning.”
Close to half a million Indians die, failing to get organs on time. The reason being lack of awareness on organ donation and logistical inabilities to retrieve and transplant it in an appropriate time frame.
