A 26-year-old donor's family selflessly donated his organs after his demise in New Delhi. In coordination with the medical teams, the organs were transported to various hospitals, saving four lives. The family's generosity supports organ donation and spreads awareness for this positive cause and medical advancements.
New Delhi: In a groundbreaking medical achievement, a generous act of a 26-year-old deceased donor and his family gave a new lease of life to four patients at several hospitals in Delhi on Sunday. The development took place after Vijay, who hails from Ballabhgarh district in Haryana, was declared brain dead in March after being hospitalized for about a week in a critical condition.
The deceased, Vijay’s family decided to let his legacy live on by donating four of his vital organs to the patients who were in need. The Medical Superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital, Dr Vandana Talwar, informed that Vijay was unwell for a week and was on private treatment for a while.
Vijay had an acute febrile illness and was hospitalized in Safdarjung Hospital on February 25 in critical condition. After a series of tests, on March 2, a panel of specialists certified him brain dead. “The family was explained and counselled for a donation of organs, to which they agreed in spite of tremendous grief after losing their son,” Dr Talwar said.
After the family members decided to donate the vital organs to the hospital, the doctors successfully retrieved them at the hospital and in coordination with the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) allotted them across the city. NOTTO is a National level organization set up under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The retrieved heart was transplanted in a patient at New Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the liver and one kidney were transplanted at Research & Referral Army Hospital and the kidney was transplanted in a patient at Safdarjung Hospital by the respective teams of
Nephrology and Urology, Dr Talwar informed that the recipient of the kidney at Safdarjung Hospital is stable and recovering well. “This selfless act on the part of the kin of the donor will go a long way to spread awareness in the mass regarding Organ Donation,” she added.
Dr Talwar also said that the current cadaveric organ donation and the previous cadaveric organ donation in Safdarjung Hospital in January 2024 are a result of the revival of an ongoing programme for increasing awareness in the faculty and residents towards brain stem death declaration and Deceased Organ Donation.
The Organ Donation and Transplant Coordination Committee under the charge of additional medical superintendent, Dr Vandana Chakravarty and officer-in-charge Dr Binita Jaiswal has been actively holding sensitization and training sessions to increase awareness towards potential brain stem death declaration and organ donation, Dr Talwar said.
It is pertinent to mention here that the organs can only be donated after the natural death of an individual or if the individual is declared brain dead, which was legalized in India under the ‘Transplantation of Human Organ (THO) Act’ in 1994.
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