Surat teen’s heart gives 15-year-old new lease of life

MUMBAI: A 15-year-old boy from Ahmednagar, who had a fatal heart condition, underwent a life-saving heart transplant in Mumbai on Sunday, after a cadaver heart was

MUMBAI: A 15-year-old boy from Ahmednagar, who had a fatal heart condition, underwent a life-saving heart transplant in Mumbai on Sunday, after a cadaver heart was flown in from Surat, Gujarat. This was the sixth paediatric transplant in the city since the facility started in August 2015, said Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee officials.

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The donor, Kissan Gajera, 19, was declared brain dead at Ayush ICU and Multi-specialty Hospital, Surat. “He won the first round of an inter-college boxing competition on September 8 and collapsed soon after he came out of the rink,” said Nilesh Mandlewala, president of NGO Donate Life, who counselled the family about organ donation. He had brain haemorrhage, said Mandlewala.

Along with the heart, the family also consented to donate his liver, pancreas, kidneys and corneas, saving the lives of many end-stage organ-failure patients.

“The boy had a heart condition called restricted cardiomyopathy and was wait-listed for the past six months. There was swelling in his abdomen and his lungs were filled with water. He could hardly walk,” said Dr Vijay Agarwal, chief of paediatric cardiac surgery, Fortis Hospital, Mulund.

Although the teen had been living with a relative in Thane, he had gone to his village for a couple of days to celebrate Ganeshotsav. “We got a match a few days later. Finding a match for young paediatric heart patients is tougher as compared to adult patients. There are not many families who donate paediatric organs as parents of children who are brain dead are very emotional,” said Dr Agrawal.