Abhishek Jogdandar died after a motorbike accident; lack of national database meant that his heart, lungs couldn’t be donated
The waiting list for organ donation is notoriously long. Patients die waiting for organs. But on Thursday, transplant coordinators at Saifee Hospital struggled to find a suitable recipient for the heart and lungs of a 21-year-old accident victim from Mulund. His blood group AB-ve, a relatively rare one, made finding a match complicated for them.
"The family of the young man was aware of organ donation and was keen to do it. We did not have to convince them. However, we made calls as far as Chennai but were not able to find matching recipients for the heart and lungs," said Dr Shabina, medical administrator, Saifee Hospital.
India still doesn't have a national registry for different organs while there are several smaller regional ones. Many patients simply don't register for organ donation. Another reason is that unlike kidney patients who survive on dialysis, condition of those suffering from serious heart and lung ailments deteriorates quickly.
Abhishek, a second-year mechanical engineering student was involved in a bike accident in Virar a fortnight ago. Abhishek was returning from a football match on the day of the accident. He was not wearing a helmet. While one kidney of the student save the life of a young patient at Sion Hospital, another kidney went to a 51-year-old, who was on dialysis at Saifee Hospital for the past four years. His liver and two corneas were the other organs that were donated.
When doctors couldn't revive him, his two older siblings convinced their parents to donate his organs. "Abhishek was like a child to us more than a sibling. He was a down-to-earth boy and a state-level football player," said his elder brother Srikanth, 29, who works in Goa. Srikanth and his younger sister were keen that Abhishek's organs saved lives of others. Dr Anvay Mulay, head, cardiac transplant team, Fortis Hospital, said that in the past one month he has got four calls from various parts of the state about donors but there were no matching recipients. "The patients were not of the same blood group. Also, demonetization could have made it difficult for patients to raise money as no new patients have come in this month for a transplant," he said.
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