Father donates the organs of brain dead child, saves two lives

Coimbatore: Two vital organs - heart and pancreas -- of a teenage boy who passed away in a road accident at Kovai Medical Centre in Coimbatore on Wednesday were flown down to Chennai for transplant on Wednesday.

While his heart was taken to Chennai-based Fortis Malar hospital, his pancreas were taken to Apollo Hospitals in the afternoon. Both patients are recovering.

The donor Ramesh Ramalingam, a first year engineering student in Dharapuram, was declared brain dead by doctors at the Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital on Avinashi Road in Coimbatore on Tuesday.

He was knocked off his two-wheeler by a four-wheeler when he was returning home from college on Monday. He suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to the Dharapuram Government Hospital, but due to the lack of a surgical neurologist, he had to be shifted to Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital.

His father and sister signed the forms for organ donation.

"The father offered to donate the organs once he was informed that his son was brain dead," said a KMCH spokesperson.

The Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu networked with hospitals and allotted the organs. While Kovai Medical Centre retained the liver and one kidney harvested from the teenager, the heart went to a 14-year-old boy who suffered heart failure following chronic disease of the heart muscle, called cardiomyopathy.

The heart was brought to Chennai by a team of surgeons at 10:49am. The boy, who was put on the state waiting list three months ago, underwent the transplant on Wednesday. His transplant surgeon Dr K R Balakrishnan said he was recovering well.

The pancreas went to a 33-year-old patient with diabetes who was being redied for a transplant at Apollo Hospitals.

It is for the first time a pancreas transplant is happening as a single organ in the state. Usually doctors transplant pancreas along with the kidney.

Another kidney was given to a Coimbatore-based kidney centre, the corneas were given to Aravind Eye Hospitals and skin to Ganga Hospitals.

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