Baby dies, organ donated: A ten-month-old infant, who died during treatment at a Chandigarh hospital, ended up saving the lives of two patients suffering from organ failure, when the child’s parents decided to donate his organs to the needy ones.
The parents’ brave decision played a vital role in saving the lives of two critical patients suffering from end-stage organ failure, one at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in New Delhi and another at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.
The parents of the infant said that the organ could save the lives of those in need, which is why they decided to donate.
“We agreed to the organ donation because we knew this could help someone else and they wouldn't need to go through the heartache that we were going through. We knew it was the right thing to do," said the parents of the infant.
PGIMER Director Dr Vivek Lal expressed the institute's indebtedness to the infant’s donor family who belong to a village in the Jagadhri area of Haryana's Yamunanagar.
"It is an extremely hard decision, but the donor family is a ray of hope for organ failure patients," Lal said.
The child slipped into coma
According to a statement by PGIMER, the infant slipped into a coma on July 12 due to a fatal head injury following a fall from his baby cot.
The parents of the tot rushed him to a local civil hospital and then shifted him to a private hospital.
However, the child was shifted to PGIMER, Chandigarh due to worsening prognosis in an extremely critical condition on July 17. The infant breathed his last two days later during treatment, the statement said.
Following the declaration of the child as brain dead on July 19, the transplant coordinators at PGIMER approached his parents to urge if they could put organ donation under consideration, it added.
"The resolute and brave heart father showcased immense grit and consented for organ donation," PGIMER said in its statement.
The grieving father who was shattered after the tragic death of his 10-month-old said, “We hope our son's story will inspire families who find themselves in the same position.”
What did the doctor say?
Dr Vipin Koushal, Additional Medical Superintendent at PGIMER, said, "After the family's consent, we secured his liver and kidneys. Once the donor organs became available, everyone swiftly got into action leaving no stone unturned."
"As the cross-matching indicated no matching recipient for liver in PGIMER, we immediately got in touch with other transplant hospitals to explore options for matching recipients and finally, the child's liver was allocated to an 11-month-old boy admitted at ILBS, New Delhi," Dr Koushal added.
He informed that the liver transplant was conducted with the help of National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO).
A green corridor was created on Thursday aiming to ensure safe and speedy transport of the harvested organs, in conjunction with the retrieval timings from PGIMER to the airport here for the Delhi-bound flight scheduled at 1.15 pm, he added.
Dr Ashish Sharma, Head of Department, Renal Transplant Surgery, PGIMER, who along with his team, accomplished the dual transplant, said, “This case was a challenging one. The donor was an infant, so the organ retrieval was not a routine procedure and demanded extreme deftness and skill.”
(With PTI inputs)
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