6-year-old girl's organs give hope to 5 people

Six-year-old Janahvi T, one of the youngest donors, has given a new lease of life to five people.

After she was declared brain-dead, her parents consented to donate  Janahvi's organs to the critically ill, saving lives of five people.

A native of Chitradurga, the girl's heart was successfully transplanted to a 9-year-old boy from Vishakapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh.

Her father Tippeswamy, who is still in shock, told DH that he does not believe that his daughter is no more. "She was a very active girl, just a month ago she complained of stomach pain and had frequent giddiness. When she was unable to even write in her books, we decided to take her to the hospital for a thorough check up," he said.

Janahvi's parents had taken her to a private hospital in Chitradurga first, but her ailment could not be detected there. Later, she was  taken to another private hospital in Mangaluru where she was diagnosed with a tumour in the brain.

It was his daughter's liveliness and spontaneous conversations with the doctors that confused them, Tippeswamy said. The doctors had initially thought there were no health issues with Janahvi. However, they found a tumour in her brain after conducting an MRI.

The private hospital later referred her to Father Muller hospital in Mangaluru, where she was operated on for nearly 14 hours to remove the tumour and  its water content from the brain. Before the operation, however, the doctors had informed Janahvi's parents of the risk involved and the chances of survival.

Tippeswamy said that after the surgery Janahvi was mostly in a state of coma. She, however, had faintly opened her eyes and made some movements. But later the doctors told the parents that she was brain-dead.

The hospital staff, including coordinators from Jeevasarthakathe, a government agency which  facilitates organ transplants, visited Janahvi's parents in the hospital and requested them to donate her organs.  

Realising the finality of her condition, Janahvi's parents consented to donate her organs. Besides her heart and eyes, they donated her kidneys to two adult recipients, and her liver to a 9-year-old child.  Her father, though heart-broken, feels happy that his daughter is alive through others.

DH News Service