10 get new life from 3 cadaver donations in 48 hours in Mumbai

MUMBAI: In a 48-hour span, the city witnessed three deceased donations that resulted in 10 patients with end-stage organ failure getting a fresh lease of life.

Among the recipients is a heart failure patient who received a heart and lung donation from the family of an 18-year-old girl who suffered a brain bleed and was declared brain dead at Umrao Hospital, Mira Road, on March 9.

Another donor was a Borivli resident Rajesh Raval, 48, whose polio-affected wife and octogenarian mother agreed to donate his liver and kidneys after he was declared brain dead at HN Hospital, Girgaum on March 9.

“Raval was married to my niece, who is paralysed, andhe would carry her and put her on a wheelchair every day. He would take good care of his mother who finds it difficult to walk these days. He was so helpful to everyone that we felt it would be fitting to donate his organs so that he can continue helping others even in his death,” said Raju Kokane.

The staff at H N Hospital performed the guard of honour, with the staff lining up along the corridor as Raval’s body was wheeled out of hospital. “The guard of honour and the words of doctors helped us come to terms with our loss,” said Kokane.

With these donations, the city has seen seven cadaver donations this year so far as against 47 donations in 2022. According to the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), the three donations began with a 46-year-old man’s family donating his heart and liver and corneas after he was declared brain dead at Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, on March 8. One of the donors had discussed organ donation with his wife when alive, while a team of intensivist, neurologist and coordinators motivated the other two families to donate.

Dr S Mathur of ZTCC said that while three donations in a 48-hour period is excellent news, the problem is absence of sustained donations and lack of contribution from 60% of private recognised transplant hospitals and 90% of public hospitals.