For Ravi and Rajalakshmi, it was their first trip outside their home State of Tamil Nadu. On Friday, they made their maiden trip to Delhi on invitation from the Health Ministry in recognition of their noble act of donating the organs of their dear ones who were declared ‘brain dead.’
On Friday morning, they were honoured along with eight other donors from various parts of the country at the 6th Indian Organ Donation Day Celebrations held under the aegis of the National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO).
Mr. Ravi, from Perambur, had stood beside his brother-in-law in life and his brain death, after an accident. Having been groomed by his brother-in-law, a retired RBI employee also inclined to serving society, Mr. Ravi helped his sister make the decision to donate the organs. “We knew he would have wanted it,” Mr. Ravi told The Hindu on phone from Delhi.
For Ms. Rajalakshmi, the loss hit closer home and was intense in the sorrow it left behind. Her only son Loganathan was 27 when he was declared brain dead after a road accident in Padalam close to Maduranthakam. “I am a single mother and was living only for my son. But I am also a village health nurse and I know many people are dying because they cannot get a kidney or liver. I am grateful to God for helping my son live on in others,” she said.
Her trip to Delhi was made in the hope that she could “meet Ministers and tell them to bring a signal at the treacherous spot Padalam where Loganathan met with an accident, so that other lives are not wasted.”
Tamil Nadu came in for rich praise at the organ donation meeting in Delhi. Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda presented the award for Best performing State in Organ Donation and Transplant to Tamil Nadu Health Minister C. Vijaya Bhaskar.
So far, 3966 organs have been harvested from 716 donors in the State.
Mr. Vijaya Bhaskar said the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme includes liver, renal, bone marrow, stem cell transplantations and cochlear implantation, allowing even the poor to reap the benefits. The Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) is first of its kind in the country and being captained by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa indicated the importance that the State gave to organ donation and transplantation, he said.
The success of transplant programme of Tamil Nadu could be attributable to a slew of proactive measures, including setting up procedures and protocols for donation, distribution and transplantation. Need-based Green Corridors are set up, thanks to the assistance of the police and the role of grief counsellors, transplant co-ordinators, and NGOs such as Mohan Foundation and NNOS Foundation must be acknowledged, he said. Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, and TRANSTAN coordinator J.Amalorpavanathan were present .
So far, 3966 organs have been harvested from
716 donors in
the State
