After the donor, admitted in Fortis hospital, was declared brain dead in the wee hours of Wednesday, the hospital's organ transplant coordinator approached the grieving family, who displayed a large heart, agreeing to donate the heart, kidneys and liver to save four others.
A 62-year-old braindead woman gave a new lease of life to four others after her family decided to donate her organs on Wednesday. The gesture led to the third successful heart transplant surgery in the city – all in a span of one month – at Fortis hospital in Mulund. Health experts termed it "a rare and welcome feat" – a single hospital, in simultaneous efforts, conducting three major organ transplantation surgeries, that of liver, kidney and heart, on three different patients.
After the donor, admitted in Fortis hospital, was declared brain dead in the wee hours of Wednesday, the hospital's organ transplant coordinator approached the grieving family, who displayed a large heart, agreeing to donate the heart, kidneys and liver to save four others.
According to zonal transplant coordination committee (ZTCC), since the donor was from Fortis hospital, the heart, liver and one kidney went for the patients from the hospital while the second kidney was given to an end-stage kidney failure patient in Lilavati hospital.
Hospital sources said the heart was retrieved at 9.41 am and transplanted at 9.46am. "By then teams led by hepatologist Dr Rakesh Rai and nephrologist Haresh Dodeja were ready to conduct liver and kidney transplants simultaneously," said a hospital source.
Dr Anvay Mulay, chief of cardiac surgery at the hospital said, "I believe this is the most thoughtful and humane gesture on the part of the donor's family. It made the third transplant possible. The surgery went well. The patient is now stable and will be kept under observation for the next 48-72 hours."
Meanwhile, one more patient – 14-year-old Nakul Chavan – has been admitted to the hospital, and is awaiting a donor heart.
A hearty tale
It was in1968 that Dr PK Sen and his team from KEM Hospital, Parel, carried out two transplants with limited success, barely six months after South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first heart transplant. After which, there was a long gap and end-stage heart patients had to go to hospitals in South for the heart transplant.
Six hospitals from city had acquired the permission to perform heart transplants 10 years ago, but not a single such procedure could be performed till last month. Finally, after the 47 years of gap, two procedures were conducted in Fortis hospital this month and Wednesday's is the third.
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