This year’s Ramzan will be special for 27-year-old Shareef, an artisan hailing from a family of weavers, in Kadapa. Till a month ago, because of his failing liver, Shareef and his family members were not sure whether he had enough ‘time’ to last till the Ramzan festivities.
Thanks to a collaborative effort of transplant surgeons, Shareef became the first person to undergo liver transplantation at Osmania Government Hospital (OGH) in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The cadaver transplant surgery of the liver was done by OGH surgeons on June 9. On Monday, July 6, the doctors discharged Shareef.
“I still can’t believe I am alive. I struggled for 10 years with my failing liver. Doctors here have given me a new lease of life after corporate hospitals here said nothing more can be done. I am longing to go home and celebrate Ramzan with my sisters and brothers,” an elated Shareef said.
Shareef was suffering from secondary billiary cirrhosis, a medical condition in which the bile ducts of the liver get destroyed, thus impairing the function of the liver. The surgery was conducted at a cost of nearly Rs. 10 lakh while a similar surgery at corporate hospitals would cost between Rs. 30 lakh and Rs. 40 lakh.
“His liver was beyond repair. He had jaundice and his liver had literally stopped functioning. The transplantation was possible only because we managed to co-ordinate with multiple agencies,” said Superintendent, OGH, C.G. Raghuram.
Indeed, the liver transplant surgery was a multi-agency effort. Surgeons from OGH roped in gastroenterology experts from NIMS, tapped into the expertise of Liver Transplant Specialist Thomas Cherian of Care Hospitals and State-run organ transplantation programme, Jeevandan.
