Mumbai: Two back-to-back cadaver organ donations in the city gave a new lease of life to seven critically-ill patients on Thursday.
Relatives of John Abraham, a 35-year-old train accident victim admitted to the BMC-run Sion Hospital, agreed to donate his heart, kidneys and liver, while the family of 53-year-old Jayantilal Gada, a brain haemorrhage patient admitted to Hinduja Hospital, donated his kidneys and liver.
John was brought to Sion Hospital in critical condition on September 25 after he fell from a running train near Sion station. A native of Kerala, he worked in a security firm in Pune. His brother Reji has no idea why he had come to Mumbai.
“Reji was by his side all the time in the hospital. When we told him that John’s condition was non-salvageable, he was the first one to mention about organ donation,” said Ajit Sawant, head of the urology department at the hospital.
Cadaver organ donations are slowly picking up at public hospitals, with three donations facilitated by JJ and Sion hospitals so far this year.
The second cadaver organ donation, in Hinduja Hospital, was made possible after Gada’s family gave their consent to donate his liver and kidneys. Hinduja’s transplant coordinator Christina Dsouza said the family was well informed about organ donation. “The patient’s son was motivated about the donation,” said Ms. Dsouza. Gada was admitted on September 18 following a haemorrhagic stroke.
First heart retrieved
Just ahead of World Heart Day, which is observed on Friday, Sion Hospital contributed to the cause in its own unique way. With consent from John’s brother Reji, the doctors also retrieved his heart, a first for the civic hospital. “We have had a conversation several times earlier when we had decided to donate our organs. When the doctors told me that his condition was irreversible, I only fulfilled John’s wish by offering to donate his organs,” Reji told The Hindu . John’s heart was transplanted to a patient in Fortis Hospital, Mulund.
Besides Fortis and Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, recently Asian Heart Hospital performed its first heart transplant. With more than 35 people on the waiting list for a heart, new centres are likely to help reduce the waiting period.
But the question remains whether the cost of heart transplants will come down. “Heart transplants cost more than ₹20 lakh. We hope to gather enough donors to set up a transplant trust, and offer subsidies to patients,” said Dr. Ramakant Panda of Asian Heart Hospital. He said a few States offer insurance for some transplants, and it needs to be seen how this sector responds in Maharashtra if transplant numbers go up.
