A heart was flown in from New Delhi to Chennai, where it was transplanted on to a patient with end-stage heart failure.
According to a press release, a civilian employee of the Indian Air Force in Delhi met with a road accident on Tuesday and sustained severe head injuries.
He was rushed to the R&R Army Hospital for treatment, but was declared brain dead early on Wednesday morning. His family came forward to donate his organs.
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Meanwhile, a patient at Gleneagles Global Health City in Chennai was awaiting a heart transplant.
Distance a challenge
The team at Global received an alert on the availability of an organ in Delhi, but the distance was a challenge as a donated heart has to be transplanted within four hours and the flying time between the the two cities is two hours and forty minutes.
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The team at the R&R Army Hospital harvested the organ and rushed it to the airport with the help of the Delhi traffic police who created a green corridor.
The organ was taken aboard a Jet Airways flight, which took off at 4.12 p.m. from Delhi and landed in Chennai at 6.50 p.m. from where, with the help of the Chennai City traffic police, the heart was brought to the hospital in Perumbakkam in 36 minutes by 7.26 p.m., the release said.
Sandeep Attawar, director and chair of the heart failure and transplant program at the hospital, and his team of doctors successfully transplanted the heart on to the patient, the release added.