Chandigarh: Donated organs of 32-year-old PGIMER patient give new lease of life to six

The family of a 32-year-old woman, who was declared brain dead at PGIMER, Chandigarh, on March 22, donated her lungs, liver, corneas and kidneys

The family of a 32-year-old woman, who was declared brain dead at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) on March 22, donated her organs and gave a new lease of life to six people.

The donated organs of 32-year-old PGIMER, Chandigarh, patient were give new lease of life to six (Shutterstock)

The donated lungs were transplanted to a matching recipient admitted in MGM Healthcare, Chennai, while the liver and kidneys were transplanted at PGIMER. The retrieved corneas restored the sight of two other patients at the institute.

Poonam Rani of Ganjuwala village, Fazilka district, Punjab, was admitted at the local civil hospital, for an elective surgery. But her health deteriorated post-surgery and she was shifted to another hospital. Her family eventually admitted her to PGIMER on March 20, where she was diagnosed with hypoxic ischaemic injury.

Rani’s condition worsened and assessing the situation, PGIMER’s internal committee, after meeting twice, declared her brain dead on March 22.

PGIMER director Dr Surjit Singh, while detailing the organ donation case, the fifth this month, said, “The donations gave a second lease of life to four terminally ill, organ failure patients and restored the eyesight of two more. As life ends for one person, it is just beginning for someone else. That is the bittersweet reality of organ donation.”

PGIMER medical superintendent and Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) nodal officer Dr Vipin Koushal said, “Having no matching liver recipient at PGIMER for lungs, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) was contacted and the lungs were given to a matching recipient admitted at MGM Healthcare, Chennai.

“The organs were sent from PGIMER to the Chandigarh International Airport through a green corridor at 2.45 pm and they reached Chennai at 8.30 pm on March 23,” he added.