In another inter-state effort at saving lives, the heart of a two-year-and-ten-month-old Bengaluru boy has saved the life of a young Chennai boy.
The organ donor, son of Bengaluru-based techie Amit Upadhaye, was brought to Manipal Hospital on Old Airport Road, from another hospital in Indira Nagar, on December 14.
Medical director of Manipal Hospital Sudarshan Ballal said the boy was admitted with high fever, and subsequently suffered a cardiac arrest. He suffered severe hypoxic encephalopathy, and doctors declared him brain dead on Thursday night, Dr Ballal said. Following this, his parents came forward to donate the child’s heart, kidneys, liver and corneas.
Once the procedures are completed, the key in every such case is to transport the heart in time. In this case, it took just a minute and twenty seconds for the ambulance to reach the HAL airport. The hospital, in Indira Nagar, is located close to the airport and a coordinated effort between the police, hospital staff and the nodal agency for organ transplants, Zonal Coordination Committee for Karnataka (ZCCK), ensured a green corridor.
A medical team from Fortis Malar Hospital in Chennai travelled to Bengaluru to retrieve the organ. They took a special air ambulance and reached Chennai in 36 minutes. From Chennai airport, the heart was transported to the hospital in 11 minutes, crossing 11 signals — all of which were stopped for the ambulance to cross. A standby ambulance followed the one transporting the organ.
The heart was transplanted onto the waiting recipient, a two-year-and-nine-month-old boy.
Transplant coordinator of ZCCK Manjula said there had been no recipient in Karnataka for the heart, as there were no children among the 29 people waiting for a heart transplant in the State.
This is the second time in the last three months that a heart has been transported between Bangalore and Chennai. In September, a 33-year-old woman’s heart was sent to Chennai. Since 2009, this is the fourth heart that has gone to Chennai from the city.
(With additional reporting by Petlee Peter)
