Organs retrieved from two brain-dead patients saved the lives of 12 people on April 3 as the families of those who were pronounced brain-dead decided to donate their organs.
What had happened?
The Times Of India reported that one of the brain-dead patients was a 16-year-old girl who had suffered from a brain haemorrhage and the other was a 50-year-old man who met with a deadly road accident.
The 16-year-old was brought to Fortis hospital on Bannerghatta Road and her symptoms had merely begun with headache and vomiting before it turned to an irreversible condition which contributed to her death. Her kidney and liver were given to patients in need at the hospital itself and her heart valve, cornea and second kidney were sent to other hospitals.
The other patient had reportedly met with an accident while returning from a wedding on March 30. He was declared brain-dead on April 3, and his organs were retrieved and sent to different hospitals.
On April 3, the family of a 47-year-old brain-dead woman in Mumbai donated her organs to save the life of a liver failure patient. With this, Mumbai has recorded 31 cadaver donations this year alone.
Donation process in India
In our country, donations can be done by signing up a donation form for organ donation voluntarily called the living donations. If the patient is declared brain-dead, the family takes the call, which is called deceased donation.
Reportedly, there are restrictions on the lifespan of the organs donated. The heart, for instance, can only be sustained for six hours, liver for 24 hours, kidney for 72 hours and lung for six hours.
Organs are to be removed as soon as possible from the body after the patient is declared brain-dead and is sustained under chemical solutions till then, according to Times of India. There are various websites that have online forms for organ donations like organindia.org, donatelifeindia.org, etc, according to Times Now.
Experts are of the opinion that healthy organs which can be harvested for organ donations, get wasted due to lack of infrastructure in India. Additionally, due to lack of any centralised registry in the country, records of potential donors and recipients cannot be found during times of need. However, efforts like the creation of green corridors by different state governments have facilitated easier organ transportation which has successfully saved lives in recent times.
Also Read: Tamil Nadu: Brain Dead Retired Govt Sports Teacher Donates Organs, Saves 7 Lives
