One in Mumbai, three in Ahmedabad get new life, thanks to 20-year-old

A heart from Surat travelled 269 km in flat 120 minutes to give a new lease of life to a Chembur woman, thanks to a green corridor created by the Surat traffic police.

Resident Shraddha Kanojiya, 37, who received the heart was diagnosed with a heart ailment after she gave birth to her daughter in 2016.

The heart belonged to Soni Pagare, a 20-year-old from Dhulia in Surat who was declared brain-dead after she consumed phenyl at her residence.

This is the 20th heart donated from Surat in the last 34 months. Of the 20,14 were given to patients in Mumbai, three to those in Ahmedabad and one each was donated to Chennai, Indore and New Delhi.

Pagare's family ended up donating her kidneys and liver too. "We are a family of poor labourers. We are not in a position to give anything to anyone, so when the opportunity arose to help some strangers we could not refuse. Our daughter is gone but we are glad she could help someone in need," said Sunil Sapkade her father.

Pagare got married to Kapil, a resident of Dhulia six months ago. On September 24 she had gone to visit her father's family in Surat. During some altercation, she consumed phenyl in a fit of anger. She was rushed to the New Civil Hospital in Surat. On September 29, a team headed by neurosurgeon Dr Jigar Shah declared her brain-dead.

The staff of the hospital contacted Nilesh Mandlevala of Donate life who counselled the family about organ donation.

Two of her kidneys and liver were donated to patients of the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC) while the heart was given to a patient in Mumbai.