The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Donation of vital organs continues

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Friday, Oct 31, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Donation of vital organs continues

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The recent instances of altruistic parents volunteering to donate the vital organs of their ‘brain-dead’ child seem to have achieved much more in motivating cadaver transplantation than what sustained campaigns do so over the long-term.

The heart-warming instance of Hithendran (16), who in dying gave life to other patients in dire need of heart, kidneys, corneas, and liver, has inspired other cadaver transplants in the State.

Those who have been heroic even in death also include Murali, brother of cartoonist Madhan, and K. Radhakrishnan, a 42-year-old accident victim who was rushed from Salem to Chennai.

Another such touching instance involves Vellore native Ganesh (23), a young engineer who sustained serious head injuries when his two-wheeler was knocked down by a car recently near Pallikaranai.

Once doctors at Apollo Hospitals here declared the patient ‘brain-dead,’ it did not take long for the parents to fill up the consent forms pledging to donate their child’s heart and lung, kidney, liver and eyes.

“Though we were grieving at that time, we could arrive at a decision thanks to the guidance of our doctor-relatives,” said Nandakumar, the bereaved father.

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