Gurgaon: Live heart transported over 20 kms in 12 minutes, a life saved

A live heart was today transported from a hospital in Vasant Kunj to another in Gurgaon, a distance of about 20 km, in just 12 minutes.

The donor, a 45-year-old man, was admitted to Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj by the police in an unconscious state due to head injury sustained in a road accident at Fatehpur Beri near Chattarpur on July 6. He was later declared brain dead. "The hospital informed NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) and police clearance was taken, this being a medico-legal case," said a statement issued by Fortis.

The heart of the deceased was sent to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon, one kidney to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI) while the second to Safdarjung Hospital. The liver was sent to Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon. "The organ donation rate in the country has increased 10-fold over the last five years from 0.05 per million population to 0.5 per million... With NOTTO fully functional and the regional and state machineries getting into the act, an organ donation rate of 1 per million by 2020 now looks a distinct possibility," said Avnish Seth, Director of Fortis Organ Retrieval and Transplant.