On Saturday morning, the walls of Chennai Public School in Anna Nagar were lined with colourful posters and balloons.
Quirkily drawn lungs, hearts, livers and kidneys extolled the virtues of organ donation, with messages such as ‘You can light up many lives’, ‘Recycle Yourself’ and ‘Because it matters’.
The posters were part of Frontier Lifeline Hospital’s celebration of Organ Donation Day, which falls on August 13. Actors Sarath Kumar and Radikaa Sarathkumar participated, and several students of the school recited a pledge read out by Ms. Sarathkumar, to donate their organs after death “for the treatment of others irrespective of colour, caste, region or religion.”
“Death is a reality that we have to accept. But with organ donation, you can save another person’s life,” said Ms. Sarathkumar.
Her husband added that the pledge should not remain just a pledge and that youngsters should take the message of organ donation forward.
Goran Heller, chairman, department of surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden, and one of the founders of the artificial biological heart ‘Scandinavian Real Heart’, spoke about plans to hold clinical trials of the heart in 2017.
“The heart is meant to be a bridge to transplantation – for patients with end-stage heart disease who are on a waiting list for transplants. It allows them to gain time. Currently, other artificial hearts have 2 chambers and can last 6 to 10 weeks, but in this heart, there is no real set limit – we have no idea how long it will last. The engine has a guarantee of 10 years,” he said. Dr. Heller added that the present challenge was finding a way to charge the battery within the body.
Founder chairman of the hospital K.M. Cherian and chief guest Sean Kelly, Australian Consul General, South India, both spoke about the importance of organ donation in saving lives.
Recipients of heart transplants, playback singer Sharanya Srinivas and other doctors of the hospital also participated, spreading the message on new modes of treatment and the shortage of organs available in the country.
Other hospitals in the city too, marked the day. Government Kilpauk Hospital had organised a rally by doctors and signature campaign on Friday.
