In a concerted effort by a medical team and police department, the liver of a 30-year-old brain-dead man from Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital in Puducherry successfully reached an elderly male recipient at Apollo Speciality Hospitals here on Friday morning.
The Puducherry and Tamil Nadu police, who formed a green corridor all along the 370-km route, ensured that the cadaveric liver reached the hospital here in an incredible three hours. S. Jegatheesan (35), the driver of the car in which the liver was brought, said that the team started from PIMS at around 5.15 a.m. and reached Apollo Speciality Hospitals by 8.20 a.m.
“From Puducherry, we reached Viluppuram and then took the four-lane highway towards Madurai. All along the highway, the toll gates had been alerted by the police. Even the junctions were kept clear for our vehicle,” said Mr. Jegatheesan, who has the distinction of carrying out similar transport of cadaver organs at least six times since last year, mostly along the same route.
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While declining to divulge specific details of the donor, Rajesh Prabhu, Medical Gastroenterologist of Apollo Speciality Hospitals, said that it was from a 30-year-old man who met with an accident a few days back. “On Thursday afternoon, he was declared brain-dead after assessment through prescribed procedures, which included an apnoea test and examination by two neurologists,” he said.
He said that the procedures stipulated by Tamil Nadu Cadaver Transplant Programme were set in motion after that and C. Venkatesan (65), a businessman from Sathumadurai village near Vellore, was identified as the recipient.
V. Thulasinathan (40), Mr. Venkatesan’s son, said that his father was suffering from liver cirrhosis for more than three years.
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“After being in medication for long, only two months back we registered for receiving cadaver transplant.” He said that his family will forever be indebted to the donor’s family who made a magnanimous decision to donate the organs even in extreme grief.
“We will certainly do our bit to create awareness of organ donation. Our family members have also decided to sign a pledge for donating organs after death,” he said.