PGIMER continues its endeavors in Cadaver Organ Donation 26 year old Pankaj from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh becomes the Saviour in his death

Chandigarh : 04 January : With the generous gesture of a brave-heart family village Jogipur, district Kangra, Himachal Pradesh to consent for organ donation of their 26 year old dear son Pankaj on 30th December, and thereby, giving a ‘gift of life’ to one terminally ill renal failure patient and ‘gift of sight’ to another two, PGIMER continues its endeavors in cadaver organ donation and transplantation at a steady pace.
Paying rich tributes to the donor family of savior Pankaj, Prof. Jagat Ram, Director PGIMER, stated, “It takes grit, an elevated sense of social responsibility and a heart to do what the family of Pankaj has done. In their act of exemplary courage, they have not only helped give people a second chance to live but have also inspired many more people to donate organs. Donor Pankaj has not died, instead he will live in three different lives and in the hearts of all of us for his kind act.”
The PGIMER team involved in translating this noble wish of the donor family into reality also deserves a huge commendation. It is their tireless and incessant efforts that have helped saving hundreds of precious lives over the years through transplantation, added Prof. Jagat Ram.
It was the ill fated night of 28th December when the unfortunate incident took place. Pankaj, along with a friend were going on two –wheeler when they were hit by a speeding vehicle from the opposite side. The impact of the accident was so massive that Pankaj fell down and became unconscious at the accident site due to fatal head injury.
The critically injured Pankaj was first rushed to a local private hospital in Mohali and then on being referred, was admitted to PGIMER on 28th December itself. But, the worst was destined to happen and death seemed imminent for Pankaj despite best of the medical attention. Finally, Pankaj lost his battle with life on 30th December due to cardiac arrest.
Though the opportunity to retrieve other organs barring kidneys was lost owing to cardiac arrest, which is generally leveraged if the patient is declared brain-dead. However, the transplant coordinators on duty apprised the family of the limited opportunity of organ donation in case of cardiac death to which the deceased’s father Shri Joginder Kumar consented.
Expressing his sentiments, distressed father Shri Joginder Kumar shared, “It’s very devastating to lose your son in his prime. We were preparing for his marriage scheduled after two months and here we are empty handed, with our lives doomed with this untimely tragedy. Nothing in this world can fill the void created by my son’s loss. Our true life force has gone and we are just counting the days. It’s no life without him. I said ‘yes’ for organ donation of my beloved son so that some other family does not face the cruel fate like us.”
Following the consent by the donor family, the cross match of several potential recipients by the Deptt. of Nephrology was initiated. Detailing about the process, Prof. H.S.Kohli, Head, Deptt. of Nephrology, PGIMER shared, “The moment we got the intimation for possible cadaveric transplantation, the team sprang into action and started contacting the patients as per their seniority and medical fitness. These days patients have become more aware and they ask lot of questions about status of potential donor’s kidney. Around 4 to 6 potential recipients were called, investigations were sent and they were provided dialysis. This process took day or two till the best matched recipient got the donated kidney.”
After the best matched recipient was decided, a team of transplant surgeons went ahead with DCD (Donation after Cardiac Death) to retrieve kidneys. As only one kidney was found usable, which, on transplantation, gave new life to one terminally ill patient, who had been on the waiting list for long cutting short his harrowing experience of painful dialysis. This was the 17th case of DCD (Donation after Cardiac Death) since 2011 when PGIMER forayed into donation after cardiac death.
The donated corneas gave sight to two corneal blind patients. This way, the magnanimous decision of the donor family helped transforming the lives of three patients tangibly and those of many more in their families intangibly.
Despite the challenges of COVID-19, PGIMER closed the year 2020 with an steady trend with a number of 20 cadaver organ donations as compared to 31 in 2019 and 33 in 2018.The total number of major organs donated during 2020 was 41 while this number was 73 in 2019 and 92 in 2018.
Kidneys were the most widely donated organ. The other major organs harvested from deceased persons included liver, heart and pancreas. The cornea transplantation programme was also equally robust with 148 numbers of people getting their sight restored during the year 2020, as against 425 in 2019 and 470 in 2018.
All these initiatives culminated into PGIMER being adjudged as the best hospital in public sector for its services in cadaveric organ donation by Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India for the year 2020, fourth time in a row.