32-year-old brain dead patient gives new lease of life to four through organ donation in Delhi
New Delhi: A magnanimous decision and timely organ donation consent by the family of a 32-year-old male, a road accident victim helped in saving four lives. The victim was brought in an extremely critical condition at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, following a road traffic accident in the morning hours of February 25.
The CT examination revealed severe brain damage. Despite the best efforts by the team of doctors, the patient was declared brain dead on February 28.
Post-counseling, the patient’s family displayed enormous grit in their hour of grief and decided to donate his heart, liver and kidney to save the lives of patients needing transplants. A green corridor was created from Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj to AIIMS which transported the heart, covering a distance of 10 kms in just 11 minutes.
The heart was donated to a patient at AIIMS, the liver, to another patient at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, and the kidney was donated to a patient at Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi.
Talking about the case, Dr. Gauri Shankar Sharma, Director and Head, Critical Care Medicine, Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj said, “I salute the deceased donor and his family to have realized the value of organ donation and giving life to ailing patients.
The clockwork precision of all internal and external teams including the Delhi Traffic police made this donation a reality. This should encourage more people to come forward and get themselves registered for organ donation to save more lives.”
Yashpal Rawat, Facility Director, Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj said, “Organ donation is a very big cause for humanity, and those who come forward for it should be given priority support by our system. I thank the family for being a part of this noble cause and also the team of doctors who helped facilitate the process. Clinical expertise to handle such cases are the hallmarks of Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, and we continuously endeavor to provide highest level of care to save lives and get best outcomes.”
As per the data available with NOTTO, in 2022, 11 cadaver donations were done with successful retrieval of 30 organs in Delhi. Every year, hundreds of people die in India, waiting for an organ transplant. Due to lack of awareness and misconceptions, there is a shortage of organ donors, and with each passing year, the gap between the number of organs donated and the people waiting for transplant, is growing wider.
Timely cadaveric organ donation can save many lives and more people would come forth and pledge their organs if they receive more information and are educated on the benefits of organ donation.
