Gift of life: Organ donation saves 14

4 kidneys, 2 livers, 4 corneas and 4 heart valves harvested from two donors at Apollo BGS Hospitals 

Mysore/Mysuru: The act of donating one’s organs can save the lives of scores of people who live on the brink of death every day. In India, over 5 lakh people die every year due to unavailability of organs. 

In a gift of life, organs harvested from 40-year-old Lawrence and 48-year-old Shobha were transplanted yesterday at Apollo BGS Hospitals, Mysuru, while remaining organs were sent to other needy hospitals, thereby saving 14 lives. 

Lawrence, a resident of Hunsur and Shobha, a resident of Kushalnagar in Kodagu were brought to Apollo BGS Hospitals on Aug. 16 at 12.40 pm and 2.10 pm from Agastya Hospital and Brindavan Hospital respectively. Both were in critical condition. Investigations and CT scans showed brain stem infarction. They were shifted to ICU for life support and intensive care. 

Lawrence met with a road accident on Aug. 16 and he was kept on life support for two days while he was in a critical state. On the third day, he was declared brain dead due to brain stem failure. 

 Shobha suffered from a brain haemorrhage on the same day and was declared brain dead due to brain stem failure on the third day. Both were assessed as per hospital protocol stipulated by the Transplant of Human Organs Act 1994 by panellist doctors, according to N.G. Bharateesha Reddy, Vice-President and Unit Head, Apollo BGS Hospitals, Mysuru. 

Lawrence and Shobha were healthy before the incident and further tests confirmed their eligibility for organ donation. Their family members were counselled for organ donation as per the defined protocol. The patients’ family readily came forward to donate the organs. Apollo BGS Hospitals is a licenced Centre for Multi-organ Transplant in Mysuru.  

Officials from Jeeva Sarthakathe, the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation, initiated the process and the organs were harvested at Apollo BGS Hospitals out of which two kidneys and two livers were transplanted to wait-listed patients while the rest of the organs were sent to needy patients at BGS Global Hospital, Bengaluru, Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru, Mysore Eye Bank, JSS Hospital, Mysuru and  Jayadeva institute of Cardiology, Bengaluru.