10-year old brain-dead boy’s organs donated at Nanavati Hospital

This is the fifth cadaver organ donation in the city and the second in Nanavati hospital in 48 hours. However, it took nearly 10 hours to convince police officials at the Santacruz police station to give a No Objection Certificate (NOC)

MUMBAI: The city recorded the youngest cadaveric organ donor of the year after parents of a 10-year-old brain-dead boy donated his organs at Nanavati Hospital, Vile Parle on January 30. This is the fifth cadaver organ donation in the city and the second in Nanavati hospital in 48 hours. However, it took nearly 10 hours to convince police officials at the Santacruz police station to give a No Objection Certificate (NOC).

The hospital giving the 10-year-old boy a guard of honour. (HT Photo)

Doctors said the donor, a resident of Santacruz West, was brought to the hospital on a ventilator and may have had a vascular abnormality, leading to bleeding in the brain. While the parents gave their consent to donating his liver, kidneys and cornea readily, the hospital and Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC) said the police delay on the NOC caused a problem since the hospital could not go ahead with the retrieval of the organs and give a new lease of life to three end-stage disease patients.

“The child was brought to the hospital on January 27 with no signs of any brain activity upon admission,” said Dr Hiren Doshi, director of the paediatric and neonatal intensive care units. “We conducted a CT scan which confirmed haemorrhage near the brain stem. After the apnoea tests and EEG confirmed the absence of any brain activity, the child was declared brain-dead on the evening of January 28 and the family was informed about his condition. The child’s grandmother works with a doctor, who suggested that they donate his organs. So when the coordinators approached, the family immediately agreed.”

The team from the hospital then approached Santacruz police station at around 12.30 am. While transplant coordinators working with ZTCC said that a police NOC normally takes less than three hours, in this case, it took nearly ten hours. “The on-duty police team was not aware of the brain-dead and cadaver organ donation rules,” said the official who was involved in the procedure. “We had to call up doctors and transplant coordinators from other hospitals, and it took a lot of time and effort to convince them.”

HT had on March 12, 2023, reported how a delay in the NOC by the Kashimira police had almost led to the hospital losing the organ donor. After the incident, ZTCC has been trying to organise sensitisation programmes for the police on cadaver organ donations.

“We asked ZTCC to train police personnel and acquaint them brain stem death and the rules and regulations of cadaver organ donation because sometimes it takes lot of time to explain all this,” said Dr Abdul Samad Ansari, Nanavati Hospital’s director of critical care, who added that in this case too, they called ZTCC to tell them the delay was not good, as the parents wanted to get done with the process at the earliest. “There is motivation and awareness among the community regarding organ donation but red-tapism and delayed procedures can be a huge deterrent,” he said.

Dr Bharat Shah, secretary, ZTCC, said that there was growing awareness about organ donation and it was not uncommon for families to come forward and donate. “We are also seeing more paediatric donations,” he said. “Parents want to see their child remaining alive in other bodies.” Dr Shah added that ZTCC was coordinating with the police for more awareness and sensitisation on cadaver organ donation so that the process could be smoother and delay-free.