In a first, Heart travels 2500 kilometres from Chandigarh to Chennai for a Matching Recipient
Other harvested organs including Liver, Kidneys & Corneas transplanted here in PGIMER
Impacting six lives &kindling hope in many more ‘in-waiting’ recipients
Chandigarh December 10, 2021:The City Beautiful witnessed another milestone in organ donation as for the first time, a harvested heart from a deceased organ donor here in PGIMER travelledaround 2500 kilometres for a matching recipient in Chennai.
The harvested heart was sent from PGIMER Chandigarh to International Air Port Mohali in 22 minutes by creating a ‘Green Corridor’ for Vistara airlines flight scheduled for departure at 3.25 pm on Wednesday. After landing at 8.30 pm at Chennai, the retrieved heart was taken to MGM Healthcare Hospital in Chennaiwhere it was transplanted to a terminally ill 52 year old male patient. The harvested liver, kidneys and corneas were transplanted to five patients here in PGIMER.
Prof. Surjeet Singh, Director PGIMER, while expressing his gratitude to the donor family, said, “Timing is the key in transplantation. It is commendable that the heart was retrieved and transported within such a short span of time despite the matching recipient being 2500 kms away. We remain indebted to the donor family for consenting to save and enrich others’ lives in their hour of indescribable grief, impacting six lives tangibly and kindling hope in many more ‘in-waiting’ recipients intangibly.”
Commending the contribution by PGIMER team, the director further said, “The entire team right from Neurosurgeons, Intensivists, Nephrologists, Hepatologists,Testing Labs, Transplant Surgeons, Transplant Coordinators, Nursing Officers worked in tandem to translate the noble wish of the donor family into actually saving the precious lives.”
In an extremely unfortunate turn of events, a 45 year old male met with a fatal accident, sustaining grievous head injury on 4th December, 2021.He was immediately rushed to PGIMER. However, as his condition deteriorated and became irretrievable, he was declared brain dead here at PGIMER following the protocols of THOA at 11.30 pm on 7th December.
The family, amid the grim tragedy of losing their dear one, displayed exceptional courage and magnanimity and consented for organ donation of their deceased relative, when counselled by Transplant Coordinator at PGIMER. Following the family’s consent, heart, liver, kidneys and corneas were retrieved from the donor for transplantation to save other lives.
Since, there was no matching recipient for heart here;it was allocated for a matching recipient in MGM Healthcare Hospital in Chennai with the intervention of NOTTO. Rest of the retrieved organs including liver and kidneys were transplanted to the terminally ill organ failure patients in PGIMER, thereby giving them a second lease of life. The harvested corneas, on transplantation, restored the sight of two corneal blind patients, thereby influencing six lives in all, one in Chennai and other five in PGIMER Chandigarh.
Each year, half a million Indians die while waiting for an organ transplant, because no suitable donor can be found for them. That’s a life lost every minute! There is a need to spread the word that each one of us has the potential to be an organ donor, and we all have the power to influence many lives by donating our heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and eyes.
