The liver was speedily transported through the 23-km stretch in a matter of just 22 minutes.
A 42-year-old BSF constable awaiting a liver transplant got a new lease of life on Friday when the organ reached him after being harvested from a 70-year-old donor and transported through a stretch of 23 km in just 22 minutes, a city-based hospital said. The liver was donated by a 70-year-old male patient who had suffered intracranial haemorrhage, resulting in brain death, BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital said in a statement, highlighting that the authorities facilitated the safe passage of the organ.
Doctors at BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital performed the life-saving surgery, giving the 42-year-old male patient from Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) a new lease of life, it added. The harvested liver was transported from one of south Delhi's private hospitals to BLK-Max Hospital through a green corridor in swift coordination by the Delhi Traffic Police, it mentioned.
The liver was speedily transported through the 23-km stretch in a matter of just 22 minutes, it noted. Dr Abhideep Chaudhary, senior director and HOD, HPB Surgery & Liver Transplantation, BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital, who led the team of surgeons said, “We are happy to report that in a surgery that lasted almost seven hours, we managed to give a new lease of life to a 42-year-old male BSF constable, who had been waiting for the transplant for long."
"He was suffering from end-stage liver disease with jaundice, ascites (abnormal build-up of fluid in the abdomen), hepatic encephalopathy (decline in brain function due to severe liver disease) and recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding. He was admitted to our hospital since May 21 this year in a state of 'liver coma'. The patient was in a critical state, however, none of his family members were a match for donation,” Chaudhary said.
The transplant team was divided into two – one was sent to the south Delhi hospital where it took them two and a half hours to retrieve the donor liver. Meanwhile, the second team started preparing the 42-year-old recipient for transplantation, the statement said.
Emphasising the need for more organ donations, Dr Chaudhary thanked the family of the donor who "decided to serve critical patients even in their time of loss".
"Organ donation can save so many precious lives, and I really hope that everyone embraces this cause. We would also like to thank all authorities concerned like NOTTO, and the Delhi Police for taking swift action and making this possible," he added.
