Pune, Mumbai: A year-old girl admitted to the privately run Fortis Hospital in Mulund received a gift of life on Tuesday evening from a 10-year-old girl who died in Pune in the morning of critical injuries suffered in a road accident a fortnight ago.
The Mumbai infant has thus become one of the youngest recipients of a heart transplant in the state. Further, the liver and kidneys of the Pune girl were donated to a seven-year-old girl and a 37-year-old woman, respectively, both admitted in Pune hospitals. The 10-year-old is the youngest donor of the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) in Pune.
Those who received organs are stable
All those who received her organs are under observation and stable. The deceased girl’s family lives in Pimpri Chinchwad’s Chikhali area. After she was injured, she was rushed to the Dr DY Patil Hospital and Research Centre on Oct 24. However, she lost her fortnight-long battle for life on Tuesday morning.
“After her death, her family, which comes from a poor economic background, was counselled by hospital transplant coordinator Mayuri and they decided to donate all possible organs. With this, Gita (name changed) became Pune zone’s youngest donor,” said Arati Gokhale, chief coordinator, ZTCC Pune.
Family chose to donate girls organs despite living in poverty
“The family earns its living collecting scrap from households every day. Despite being from a vulnerable group and living in poverty, it chose to donate her organs and participate in such a humanitarian act which is commendable,” said Dr Sunil Rao, CEO of the Dr DY Patil Hospital.
“They have set an example for the rest of society with this act.” Talking about the allocation of the organs, Ms Gokhale said the donor’s liver was allocated to Jupiter Hospital, Pune, while the kidney was transferred to the Command Hospital, Pune, and the heart to Fortis Hospital, Mulund.
“All this was done as per the allocation criteria of the regional organ and tissue transplant organisation (ROTTO), SOTTO and NOTTO,” she said. Interestingly, all the patients given new leases of life by the donor, a female, were also females, Ms Gokhale said. This was the 40th donation in the Pune zone.
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