JOIN USIn his death, Manjunath (24) gave life to five people across different hospitals in the City and outside. What’s more, the Bangalore traffic police was instrumental in transporting these organs to help them survive.
Following a consent agreement for a cadaver transplant, which was signed on late Saturday night by Manjunath’s mother, the Columbia Asia Hospital took charge of the organ harvesting. Manjunath was put under the surgical knife for his heart, two kidneys, liver and his eyes that were harvested between 2 am and 4.30 am on Sunday. The organs were delivered to the recipients in the City hospitals and in Mysore.
Having consulted doctors across the hospitals, it was decided that the top-of-the-list recipient was a man admitted to Narayana Hrudayalaya, who needed the heart for his survival.
With a request coming in from the Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation (ZCCK), the Bangalore traffic police ensured that the organ was transplanted for the survival of the recipients. Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner, Traffic and Security, Bangalore Traffic Police, said a police escort was provided for the transport of the heart to its beneficiary in Narayana Hrudayalaya.
“When we can provide an escort for the VVIPs, why can’t we provide the same facility to ensure that the organs help in the survival of another person?” said Sood. With just three hours of breathing time for the heart, it was imperative for its transportation within the time available.
“The heart can stay alive for only three to four hours. With the traffic congestion in the City, it would take us at least an hour to transport the heart from Hebbal to Jayanagar. That is when we appealed to the traffic police to intervene,” said Dr D Ramesh, secretary, ZCCK. It was under such circumstances that on Sunday, a police escort was provided for the delivery of the heart to the recipient, from one end of the City to another. While the heart was dispatched to Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital, one kidney was given to a patient in Apollo Hospital, another to Vikram Hospital in Mysore, the liver to BGS Global hospital and the eyes to Lions Eye Bank.
Doctors stated that the delivery of the heart which was the top priority, was made in time for the recipient to undergo surgery, thanks to the police escort.