The New Year has ushered in a ray of hope for patients awaiting organ transplants. The city has seen six transplant surgeries back to back in the first week of January itself. In January last year, there were no cadaver organ donations in the first two weeks of the month.
When 36-year-old Mulund resident Ashit Kapadia died on Saturday last following injuries after a road accident on Thursday, his family was shattered. But that did not come in the way of his wife’s decision to donate his organs. “Our family has suffered an irreparable loss, but I am happy for those families whose kin have got a new lease of life due to my deceased husband’s organs,” said Anjana Kapadia, 34.
After Kapadia was declared brain dead at Fortis Hospital in Mulund, his liver, kidneys, eyes and skin were harvested for transplantation. “The family approached us and volunteered to donate organs which is a welcome step,” said Dr Narayani, medical director at Fortis.
“The liver of the deceased was transplanted in a 65-year-old male at Fortis. Also, one of Kapadia’s kidneys was transplanted in another male patient at the same hospital and the second kidney was sent for transplant to Breach Candy hospital,” said Dr Jatin Kothari, joint secretary, Zonal Transplant Co-ordination Centre (ZTCC), Mumbai.
In a similar development on Sunday, a senior nurse at Mahim-based Hinduja hospital decided to donate her husband’s organs after he succumbed to a brain stroke on January 5. The liver of the deceased was transplanted in the body of a 17-year-old girl at Jupiter Hospital in Thane. “Apart from the liver transplant, one kidney each was transplanted in a 50-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man at Jupiter and Hinduja hospitals respectively,” said Dr Kothari.
“Lakhs of patients suffer from end-stage liver disease. Only 20-30% of those enlisted with us for cadaver donation get lucky to receive an organ on time. The rest die,” said Dr Sanjay Nagral, liver transplant surgeon at Jaslok Hospital.
