15-month-old’s heart, kidneys save two, including three-year-old from Mumbai

Six people in Mumbai and Surat get new lease of live from organs harvested from two donors

Five people from Mumbai and one from Surat got a new lease of life on Tuesday after the families of a 15-month-old Surat boy and 45-year-old Mumbai woman decided to donate their organs. The two heart transplants that were performed at an interval of 90 minutes, also involved the youngest organ donor from western India — Somnath Shah [15 months].

At 15-months, Somnath Shah became the youngest organ donor from western India.

Counsellors said convincing the Shahs was difficult, as Somnath was their only son. The toddler was declared brain dead two days after an accident he met with at his residence. Somnath sustained a head injury after he slipped off the stairs.

“We approached his father Sunil and told him that finding a cadaver for children is extremely difficult. When he realised that his son could save multiple lives, the Shahs agreed to donate Somnath’s organs,” said Nilesh Mandlewala, president of Donate Life, a Gujarat-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) which promotes organ donation.

Somnath’s kidneys were sent to the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Center (IKRDC), Ahmedabad, and were used to save the life of a 15-year-old boy diagnosed with kidney failure since a decade. His heart was transported to Fortis Hospital, Mulund, via commercial flight covering 331.7kms in 95 minutes.

In the second case, organs were harvested from a 45-year-old woman who was admitted to JJ Hospital. The mother of two from Karjat was rushed to the hospital after she fell unconscious owing to poor blood supply to her brain. The doctors harvested liver, kidneys and heart after seeking her husband’s consent.

A team of surgeons from Fortis Hospital, Mulund, implanted her heart into a 38-year-old woman from Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. The organ was transported from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai in 23 minutes. The recipient was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in June 2016 and was put on the waiting list sine March. While the kidneys were implanted in two separate recipients, the woman’s liver saved another life.

Dr Anvay Mulay, head of cardiac transplant team, Fortis Hospital, who conducted both the transplants said, “We would not have been able to reach this far without the consent of the donors’ families, who have forever changed the lives of the recipients and their families. The patients are now stable.”