Nagpur: A retired Andhra Bank employee from Nagpur who was declared brain dead will be giving life to 5 others battling for life. His family has decided to dontate the kidneys, liver and eyes (corneas) of their head.
The liver was flown to Global Hospitals in Mumbai through a chartered flight by creating a green corridor from Shankar Nagar to the airport. The ambulance took just four minutes to reach the airport due to the green corridor.
Global Hospitals’ Dr Ravi Mohanka, a liver surgeon who originally hails from Nagpur, reached the city by noon and left Wockhardt Hospital after harvesting the liver at 3.42pm to reach airport by 3.46pm, thanks to the efforts of DCP (traffic) Ravindrasinh Pardeshi to create the green corridor.
The patient slipped in the bathroom on Sunday and was admitted to Wockhardt Hospital. He was declared brain-dead around 10pm. The Dixit family decided to donate the organs of the patient the very night. The hospital approached the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), which approved the donations by 10.30am on Monday.
“The family had also offered to donate the heart. But it was not accepted in Maharashtra and hence, was slated to be transported to AIIMS Hospital in Delhi. But due to medical reasons, it could not be sent for transplantation,” said Dr Ravi Wankhede, secretary of ZTCC.
One of the kidneys was sent to a 65-year-old woman at Wockhardt hospital and the other went to a 65-year-old man in Care Hospital. The eyes were donated to Madhav Netra Pedhi. The Care Hospital patient was on dialysis for four-and-a-half years.
“It is a real good effort on the part of Wockhardt Hospital counsellor Dr Rajesh Gade and other doctors to convince the family to donate organs, which could benefit as many as five patients,” said Dr Vibhawari Dani, ZTCC president.
K Sujatha, the centre head at Wockhardt, said, “We have always been promoting organ donation and are now getting a good response.” This was the 105th kidney transplant and 18th cadaver transplant performed by the hospital.
Dr Suryashree Pande was the nephrologist from Wockhardt Hospital and Dr Prakash Khetan from Care Hospital. The transplant at Wockhardt was done by Dr Sanjay Kolte, senior uro-surgeon, while the one at Care was done by Dr Ravindra Deshmukh and Dr Dhananjay Bokare. The emergency lymphocyte matching was done by Dr Shaildendra Mundhada.
The donation process involved active efforts of Veena Wathkhare and Mangla Asthikar from ZTCC, Sujatha Patwardhan from the Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (Rotto), who coordinated the organ donation between Mumbai and Nagpur.
