Vital organs of a 30-year-old electrician of Vaiyampatti near Tiruchi, who was declared brain dead after sustaining grievous injuries in a road accident, were harvested at the Cethar Hospitals here on Tuesday and donated to give new lease of life to seven patients in Chennai, Madurai and Tiruchi.
The retrieved heart and lung was airlifted to Chennai through a green corridor created by the police from the hospital to the Tiruchi Airport.
One of the kidneys was sent to Madurai by road and the liver and corneas were used locally.
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The youth, V.Venkatesan, working as an electrician in a private industry at the Mathur industrial estate in the outskirts of the city, sustained severe head injury in a road accident at Rajalipatti near Viralimalai on Saturday.
He was rushed to a private hospital at Manapparai and later referred to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi.
He was subsequently shifted to the Cethar Hospital in the city on Monday.
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He was found to have sustained severe brain stem injury and was treated by a team of neuro physicians and a neuro surgeon.
However, he was declared brain dead on Tuesday morning, according to Karthick Sivakumar, Managing Director, Cethar Hospital.
“Members of the Rotary Club of Manapparai and the doctors explained the possibility of donating his organs. Venkatesan’s mother Vasantha, wife Jeevitha and sister Gandhimathi wholeheartedly agreed to donate his organs,” said S.Suresh, Venkatesan’s cousin.
Venkatesan has a two-year-old daughter, Mr.Suresh said.
The retrieved liver was used for a patient with end stage liver disease requiring cadaveric transplant at the Cethar Hospital itself. The heart and lung was harvested by Global Hospitals, Chennai, for a patient awaiting transplant.
Green corridor
On being alerted, the city police provided a green corridor to transport the organs to the airport from the hospital, a distance of about 9.5 km, in 10 minutes. The organs were later flown to Chennai by a scheduled flight.
The kidneys were sent for patients awaiting transplant at Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai, by road, and Kauvery Hospital, Tiruchi.
The corneas were sent to AG Eye Hospital in Tiruchi.
The retrieved organs were used by the hospitals according to the allotment of the Tamil Nadu Network for Organ Sharing wait list, Dr. Karthick Sivakumar said.