Kolkata: Kidney recipient’s kin donate eyes after death

KOLKATA: The 23-year-old kidney recipient, who had undergone a transplant surgery on November 18, died on Monday. The youth from Haringhata in Nadia had got a deceased donor kidney. In a heart-wrenching gesture, his family donated his corneas to Sankara Nethralaya.

“We have no complaint against the doctors. The medical team tried their best. My nephew got the best possible care from the doctors and nurses. In fact, Dr Rajendra Pandey visited him often. May be it is all fate. My nephew’s death should not, in any way, hamper the organ donation movement. This is why we started consulting with the doctors if we could donate his organs after his death. We are happy that at least his corneas could be donated,” said Sujit Chanda, the kidney recipient’s uncle.

“The donated kidney had given hope to my nephew. It is our turn to try and save others. But since my nephew died due to cardiac arrest, none of his other organs could be donated. Only the cornea could be salvaged and we decided to donate his eyes so that it could help someone else see the light of the world,” Chanda added.

The 23-year-old had been suffering from kidney ailment for over four years. He had to drop out of school after Class XII because of health issues. In and out of SSKM Hospital for treatment, his condition kept deteriorating. His family had been waiting for an organ for the past 11 months for a transplant surgery.

When the family of Madhusmita Bayan (13) agreed to donate the girl’s organs after she was declared brain-dead at Mission Hospital Durgapur on November 18, Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) allocated the liver and two kidneys to SSKM Hospital. Her heart was not fit for transplant. The Haringhata boy was selected as one of the kidney recipients.

The organs were transported to SSKM Hospital from Durgapur via a 173-kilometre green corridor, the longest ever in eastern India. This was the 12th deceased organ donation in the state and the organs were being donated from a district hospital for the first time.

Doctors at SSKM Hospital said that despite a successful transplant surgery, the kidney recipient was not recuperating well after the surgery. The problem with his urine output

was a concern from day one. He was put on dialysis after the surgery as a measure to resolve the issue.

“We put in all our efforts to save him. Unfortunately, he suffered a cardiac arrest in the morning and we could not revive him,” said a doctor at SSKM Hospital.

In fact, the patient was put on dialysis even on Monday morning. He brushed his teeth and was waiting for his breakfast on his hospital bed when he suffered the cardiac arrest.

From a single organ donation last year, the movement has accelerated, hitting the double digits this year. Out of the 12 donations in 2018 so far, four were in October. The most recent organ donation on November 18 came only a day after the previous one.

The city saw its first heart transplant on May 21this year, which was also eastern India’s first. Since then, there have been five heart transplants, the latest being done at Medical College Hospital Kolkata on November 17. The other four were done at private hospitals. Those in the organ donation movement said that awareness about organ donation made these life-saving transplant surgeries possible.