Indiana performs its first cadaveric organ donation

Indiana Hospital and Heart Institute performed its first cadaveric organ donation and transportation of live organs on Friday.

Mangaluru City Police facilitated the traffic-free ‘Green Corridor’ for the safe and speedy transportation of the first batch of harvested organs from the hospital campus at Mahaveer (Pumpwell) Circle to the airport and a skyjet airplane carried the organs to Bengaluru at 5.15 pm.

Fourty eight-year-old Chandrashekar who met with an accident in Kasargod on May 11 and declared brain-dead at the hospital on May 16 was the cadaveric donor of the organs. Chandrashekar’s wife Nagaveni compassionately came forward to donate his organs to needy recipients. In accordance with their wishes the donor’s eyes, heart valves, liver and both kidneys were harvested after fulfilling all mandatory procedures and protocols in co-ordination with Jeeva Sarthakathe, the nodal body set up by state government to oversee the implementation of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act of 1994.

Indiana Hospital’s Transplant Coordinator Sangeetha Lobo said that Donor’s heart valves and liver were transplanted to recipients at Bengaluru-based Fortis Hospital. One of the kidneys was given to a recipient at KMC Hospital in Manipal. The other kidney was transplanted to a recipient at Indiana Hospital and Heart Institute. The eyes were also transplanted to recipients locally.

A surgical team led by Dr Abhijit (Urologist) and Dr Pradeep, (Nephrologist of Indiana Hospital) and Dr Yashwanth (surgeon from Fortis Hospital) performed the organ donation surgery.

“I am grateful to Chandrashekar’s family who took a bold decision to donate the healthy organs of their loved one for the purpose of providing relief to needy patients. Their noble and compassionate act will help in eradicating fears and misconceptions about organ donation and enable it to gain social acceptance,” Managing Director of Indiana Hospital and Heart Institute Dr Yusuf Kumble said.

Indiana Hospital also expressed gratitude to Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil who created a ‘Green Corridor’ (zero traffic lane) to ensure hassle-free transportation of the harvested organs in the ambulance to the airport.

Fresh lease of life

“Chandrashekar was one of the healthiest person I knew. And to know that he can save four other lives while he is no more, is a big consolation to us,” said Sathish Kumar P, a relative of the deceased.

“Chandrashekar was an orphan since the age of five. He grew up with my father and this fatal accident occurred when my father was in hospital due to a cardiac arrest,” he said. Kumar said his family was always open to organ donation, and Chandrashekar was keen on donating his organs since beginning. “His wife, an educated woman, had agreed to the idea of cadaveric organ donation,” he said and hoped that the government would give some incentive as Chandrashekar is survived by his six-year-old daughter.

“Such incentives will motivate more people to come forward in organ donation,” Sathish Kumar stressed.