52-year-old gives new lease of life to liver patient from Satara

In the seventh case of organ donation in the city, doctors at King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital, Parel, on Tuesday retrieved the liver from a 52-year-old man who was declared brain dead after a stroke. The liver has been sent to Apollo Hospital for transplantation in a patient from Satara.

In the seventh case of organ donation in the city, doctors at King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital, Parel, on Tuesday retrieved the liver from a 52-year-old man who was declared brain dead after a stroke. The liver has been sent to Apollo Hospital for transplantation in a patient from Satara.

Dr Hemant Deshmukh, dean of KEM Hospital said, “This is for the first time in two years that a civic-run hospital has become an organ donor. The family of the donor expressed to assist in spreading awareness about organ donation and were very considerate and supportive.”

“We are happy that we are starting the new year with a donated organ from a civic-run hospital. With more participation from government and civic-run hospitals, we can save more lives,” said Dr SK Mathur, president of Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC), Mumbai, a body that updates the waiting list of recipients for each organ online.

On Tuesday, the donor was declared brain dead after two apnea tests, following which social workers from the hospital counselled the relatives of the donor for their consent to retrieve his organs. The donor’s family had consented to donate his kidneys also. However, they were not considered suitable for transplantion.

As HT reported earlier, liver donation in the city has increased by almost 12 times over the past one decade. In 2009, only six donations were recorded which surged to 68 in 2019.

The organs or tissues are surgically removed from one person and transplanted in the recipient. According to experts, one donor can save the lives of many people, by donating kidneys, heart, liver, pancreas, intestines, lungs, skin, bone and cornea.