4 year old Gurjot kindles hope in 3 with donation of 4 Organs
Liver transplanted to a Matching Recipient in Delhi
Kidneys & Pancreas transplanted to Matching Recipients at PGIMER
“Its comforting to know that Gurjot’s life will go on in others and will give them more days with their families, ” stated the brave heart father Hardeep Singh.”
Chandigarh : 12th April : “God’s ways are beyond comprehension. Who could have imagined that Gurjot, our bundle of joy, would not be allowed to celebrate even his 5th birthday, Nothing can replace the void of losing our dear Gurjot. But we are trying to draw consolation from the fact that Gurjot’s life will go on in others and will give them more days with their families,” stated Hardeep Singh, the heart broken father of organ donor Gurjot Singh as he was being handed over the mortal remains of his demised son at the mortuary here at PGIMER.
The magnanimous gesture of consenting for Organ Donation by Singh family from Gehal, District Barnala, Punjab gave a fresh lease of life to three terminally ill organ failure patients with transplantation of liver to a matching recipient in ILBS, Delhi and kidneys and pancreas to matching recipients here at PGIMER.
Expressing his gratitude to the donor family for their exceptional gesture, Prof. Surjit Singh, Director, PGIMER stated, “For any family, this is a heart-wrenching loss. But families like that of deceased Gurjot who have the heart to make an offer in the most tragic moments of their life definitely instil a sense of confidence. We at PGIMER are extremely grateful and appreciate the will of Singh family to share the gift of life with three terminally ill organ failure patients.”
“Every transplant provides a new beginning for our patients and is an incredible achievement for the entire team involved in transplantation as well,” added Director, PGIMER.
Recalling the heartache of April 2, donor Gurjot’s father Hardeep Singh narrated how quickly a generally happy day changed into an unexpected and cruel tragedy. Like any other usual day, Gurjot was busy playing as he rolled over and fell from height and became unconscious.
Immediately, an unconscious Gurjot was first taken to the Civil Hospital in Barnala from where he was referred to PGIMER. Without losing any time, the family got critically ill Gurjot admitted in PGIMER on the evening of 2nd April itself. However, prognosis being extremely poor, Gurjot’s week long struggle with life came to an end as he succumbed to his head injury and was declared brain dead on 9th April following the protocols of THOA.
Prof.Vipin Koushal, Medical Superintendent, PGIMER cum Nodal Officer, ROTTO (North) elaborated, “As per regulations, two confirmatory tests with a gap of 12 hours were conducted, after which the family was counselled about the possibility of organ donation. The family deliberated amongst themselves, considered the option and eventually agreed.”
With the deceased’s parents consenting to the proposal of Organ Donation, the concerned departments started reaching out to the matching recipients to honour the family’s magnanimous decision. Having no matching recipient at PGIMER for liver, NOTTO (National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation) was contacted immediately to explore options with other transplant hospitals for matching recipients.
Finally, the liver was allocated by NOTTO for a matching recipient admitted in ILBS, New Delhi and was sent from PGIMER by road at through a green corridor for ILBS Delhi.
Prof. Koushal further detailed, “It was a race against time. A green corridor was created from PGIMER Chandigarh to ILBS, Delhi with the excellent collaboration of Police Administration from all the districts from Chandigarh to Delhi so that the donated organ could be transported to ILBS, Delhi in the shortest possible time.”
Simultaneously, the Nephrology department identified several potential recipients who were asked to report at the earliest. The cross match led to identification of two recipients for kidney and combined pancreas and kidney and the transplants of all the organs were accomplished by the early hours of 10th April.
“It was a quite a tough call to say ‘yes’ to organ donation. But then we thought if someone had come to us at that moment and said there was an organ that could save Gurjot, we would have jumped at the chance. So we thought of saving someone else the pain and agony of losing their child and went ahead with the decision. Its comforting to know that someone got a chance to live because of my dear son.” shared the brave heart father Hardeep Singh.
