In death, Alibag man’s family gifts new lease of life to 2 people

Anant Kadave from Saral village, Alibag, had suffered a stroke and had a paralytic attack on October 31. Doctors at MGM Hospital, Vashi also told the family that there were blood clots in his brain, and organs like lungs had begun to collapse. That is when the doctors brought up the idea of cadaver donation to harvest whatever organs could be donated

Mumbai: The family of a 63-year-old deceased man decided to donate his body to transplant viable organs at MGM Hospital, Vashi on November 2. This became the 37th cadaver donation in Mumbai, surpassing the 32 such donations done in the year 2021.

surgeon with his fresh delivery (Getty Images)

Anant Kadave from Saral village, Alibag, had suffered a stroke and had a paralytic attack on October 31. Doctors at MGM Hospital, Vashi also told the family that there were blood clots in his brain, and organs like lungs had begun to collapse. That is when the doctors brought up the idea of cadaver donation to harvest whatever organs could be donated.

While the Kadave family was not acquainted with the concept, his niece Supriya Shelke was. Her sister, who lives in London, is an organ donor cardholder. After understanding what the doctors were suggesting, the deceased’s children willingly agreed to save other people’s lives through their father’s organs. The necessary tests for the procedure were done on November 1 and the transplants took place the next day.

In a letter written to the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), the family says this would be the first person from their village whose organs would be donated, and has encouraged many people to do the same. “Even though we as a family are broken... we are extremely happy we are able to gift life (to other people). This will help us tremendously with our grieving process,” says the letter signed by Shelke, Kadave’s daughters Pooja Patil and Anita Kadave and his son Prafulla.

As per an official from the hospital, only the liver and one kidney of the donor was in a condition to be donated. A 65-year-old woman received the liver while the kidney was transplanted to a 69-year-old man who has been awaiting the transplant for eight years.

The staffer was very appreciative of the way Kadave’s family cooperated during the entire process. “Since the patient’s organs had begun to fail, we needed to fast-track a lot of things to be able to use whatever organs were viable. Very few families accept and understand the importance of time in such cases while they are grieving,” he said.

The family has also been very open about the organ and cadaver donations in their village, even telling other villagers about the concept that not many of them were previously aware of.