A 48-year-old Chandigarh woman, who was declared brain dead at PGIMER after suffering injuries in a road accident, gave new lease of life to two end-stage organ failure patients after her family agreed to donate her organs.
The recipients included a 13-year-old girl from Phagwara, Punjab, and a 43-year-old woman from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh
On May 14, Sunita Sharma of Khuda Ali Sher village, Chandigarh, was riding pillion on a two-wheeler when she was hit by a speeding vehicle from behind causing her fatal head injuries. After the mishap, Sunita was immediately rushed to a private hospital in Rajpura and then was shifted here to PGIMER on the same day in a precarious condition.
As the ill luck would have it, all the efforts to save Sunita proved ineffective with her condition worsening; she was put on life support. However, nothing could reverse her critical condition and after four days of struggle between life and death Sunita was declared brain-dead on May 18 after following the protocols of Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA).
Upon realising that Sunita’s severe injuries were beyond recovery, the transplant coordinators at PGIMER approached Sahil Sharma, Sunita’s grieving son, with a request to consider organ donation. Despite the heart-wrenching circumstances, Sahil exhibited courage and selflessness by granting consent for the organ donation of his beloved mother.
{{/usCountry}}Upon realising that Sunita’s severe injuries were beyond recovery, the transplant coordinators at PGIMER approached Sahil Sharma, Sunita’s grieving son, with a request to consider organ donation. Despite the heart-wrenching circumstances, Sahil exhibited courage and selflessness by granting consent for the organ donation of his beloved mother.
{{/usCountry}}PGIMER director Vivek Lal, said, “The exemplary and altruistic decision by the family of donor Sunita Sharma in the face of their ‘tragic and unbearable loss’ has proved a boon for two patients. Organ donation has been one of the greatest advances of medical science that has resulted in many people getting a renewed lease of life. It is fast developing into a major treatment protocol.”
Still in shock due to the quirky turn of fate, Sahil said, “It was a quite a tough call to say ‘yes’ to organ donation. But then we thought if someone had come to us at that moment and said there was an organ that could save our mother, we would have jumped at the chance. So, we thought of saving someone else the pain and agony of losing their parent and went ahead with the decision.”
H Kohli, head, department of nephrology, PGIMER, said, “Pre-transplant team of department of nephrology swung into action and as per host of criteria, contacted prospective recipients to narrow down on the recipients who got second lease of life. They did not have genuine living donors and they were fighting for life, on dialysis for long. Their chances of survival without transplant were bleak.”
Vipin Koushal, nodal officer, ROTTO PGIMER, said, “In view of the rapidly increasing burden of lifestyle diseases and organ failure incidence over the years, we really need to improve the rate of organ donation.”