Kin of 77-yr-old in Mumbai declared brain-dead; donate her organs

A 77-year-old woman on Thursday gave a new lease of life to five Mumbaikars. Her family decided to donate her organs after she was pronounced brain-dead at Saifee hospital at Wednesday night.

According to hospital sources, the family was forthcoming and gave their consent for donation after counselling. While the organs were retrieved late in the night, the transplant surgeries happened on Thursday.

Sources at Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC) said kidneys went to patients in Saifee and Jaslok hospitals and liver went to a patient in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.

The successful transplants have once against busted the myth that old patients do not have healthy organs worth donating. This year, six cadaver donations have happened, with 12 end-stage kidney patients and
five end-stage liver patients getting a new lease of life.

In 2012, organ donations touched an all-time high of 26 as the issue came under the spotlight following former CM Vilasrao Deshmukh's death due to liver failure. According to the ZTCC, Mumbai, in 2014, it plans to have a strong team in public hospitals to ensure there are more cadaver donations as they get the maximum trauma cases.