A life-saving drug was flown out of Ahmedabad to Chennai on Tuesday night via an Air Costa flight, whose crew volunteered to carry it.
The drug, NovoSeven, is used to stop bleeding, and was needed urgently for a patient at Apollo Hospitals who had undergone a multi-visceral transplant earlier this year.
According to Anand Khakhar, director of the liver and muti-visceral transplant programme at the hospital, the patient, Thalaimalai, a resident of Chennai, had undergone a liver, pancreas and intestine transplant in June.
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“On Monday, the patient had come in for a procedural biopsy — a routine test to check if the new intestine was being accepted by the body. During this, the delicate inner layer of the intestine was pierced and he started to bleed. We tried everything to stop the bleeding but as we couldn’t, we needed the drug. For some reason, it was not available in Chennai,” he said.
The hospital contacted the drug manufacturer who said stocks were available in Ahmedabad. Since the drug was urgently needed, the only way to get it was by flight. An Air Costa flight was flying out of Ahmedabad at 9.10 p.m. Its crew volunteered to take the three vials, weighing a total of 150 grams, and bring them to the city. The flight was expected to land at 11.30 p.m., said Ashok Sanmarkan, station manager, Ahmedabad.