Another green corridor, another heart transplant, one more life saved

 The heart of a 32-year-old man from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, now beats in a 44-year-old person from Dharmapuri, thanks to a transplant that took place  here on Sunday.

In the morning, the traffic police turned the signals green on the 19-km stretch from Sagar Hospitals located on Bannerghatta Road to Narayana Health City on Hosur Road to facilitate the heart transplant. This way, the retrieved heart was transported in just 17 minutes. The heart was of V Elavarasan who worked at a travel agency. He was admitted to Sagar Hospitals following a road accident on July 22. He was declared brain-dead on Sunday as he failed to respond to treatment.

For a family which was bride-hunting for him, the accident came as a shock. Once Elavarasan was declared brain-dead, the Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation (ZCCK) counselled his family for organ donation. “We gave our consent. In fact, my brother had enrolled for organ donation at the St John’s College and Hospital six months ago,” said V Sharmila, his sister. Elavarasan’s heart gave Madhusudhan, 44, from Dharmapuri, a new lease of life.

Dr Julius Pennun, senior cardiologist at Narayana Health City, said that the procedure took four hours and that the recipient was doing well. “Usually the first 24 hours after the surgery are crucial as there may be a case of body rejecting the new organ,” he added.

Quick co-ordination was what it took for this organ transplant to happen. K U Manjula, Chief Transplant Coordinator, ZCCK, said: “The first declaration about the patient being brain-dead came at 6 pm on Saturday and the hospital alerted us. The second declaration was made at midnight. By this time, a recipient was ready for surgery at Narayana Health City.”

Elavarasan’s liver was harvested and sent to BGS Global Hospitals, one kidney was provided to the Institute of Nephro Urology and another kept at Sagar Hospitals. His corneas were given to Lions eye bank.

According to Dr Sanjeev Kumar, nephrologist at Sagar Hospitals, Elavarasan’s kidney was transplanted into a 29-year-old person who was on dialysis for the last three years. “He aspires to be an IAS officer. Nothing better could have happened for the fulfilment of his dream,” the doctor said.

Family demands cut in bills

There was unrest at Sagar Hospitals following the organ retrieval as Elavar­a­san’s family wanted the hospital to reduce his medical bill. The hospital agreed to give some concession on the grounds that the family had consented to organ donation.

But Dr Madan S Gaekwad, senior executive vice president, Sagar Hospitals, denied that there was any misunderstanding. “We are not insisting on it as it is a goodwill gesture. We have extended full support to the family for post-mortem and given them the mortuary facility,” he said.