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'Heartbeat of hope': Vande Bharat transports live donor heart 250 km in 2 hours to save a life
Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel said the donor heart was successfully transplanted into a patient at the institute, giving him a new lease of life.
A live donor heart was transported 250 km in around 2 hours and 30 minutes from Surat to Ahmedabad in Gujarat on Friday using a specially planned high-speed “green corridor” on board the Vande Bharat Express and city roads to save a critically ill heart patient. It was the first time in India that a live donor heart was transported by train.
Notably, the Vande Bharat Express train leaves Surat at 8:58 am as per its schedule and arrives in Ahmedabad at 11:30 am.
It involved close coordination among the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Gujarat Police and medical teams to ensure the donor heart travelled from Surat to the operation theatre at the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre in Ahmedabad, the ministry of railways said in an official release.
‘Special green corridor’ for live donor heart transport
The RPF and Gujarat Police created a “green corridor” to transport the live donor heart from Ahmedabad railway station to the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre.
The official release said the "highly sensitive and time-bound life-saving operation" was completed through effective planning and coordination.
"A special green corridor was prepared by the RPF and Gujarat Police to transport the heart from Platform No. 1 of Ahmedabad railway station to the UN Mehta Institute in a fast and unhindered manner. As a result, the heart was successfully delivered to the hospital within the stipulated time frame, so that the transplant process could be started on time," it said.
Railways, Gujarat CM hail ‘milestone’
In a post on X, the Indian Railways said that the “heartbeat of hope” was “delivered on time”.
“For the first time, a 'live human heart' was transported by Vande Bharat Express from Surat to Ahmedabad for a life-saving transplant,” it added.
Ahmedabad divisional railway manager (DRM) Ved Prakash termed the operation as a major achievement for Indian Railways.
“The successful transportation of a live donor heart from Surat to Ahmedabad through the Vande Bharat Express demonstrates our commitment to serving society beyond conventional passenger and freight transportation. In such life-saving missions, every minute is crucial,” he said, according to the release.
Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel said the donor heart was successfully transplanted into a patient at the institute, giving him a new lease of life.
"A unique example of service! Every second counts in organ transplantation! It was only because the live donor heart was transported from Surat to Ahmedabad in a matter of hours at the high speed of the Vande Bharat Express that this life-saving effort became possible," Patel posted on X.
The chief minister also praised the hospital's doctors and medical staff for successfully completing 77 heart transplant procedures at the institute so far.
With inputs from agencies
