Organ transplantation scaled new heights

The event marked the humanitarian spirit of the state soaring high with advocate S. Neelakanda Sharma, 46, from Thiruvananthapuram becoming the donor and Mathew belonging to another religion becoming the recipient.

The services of an aircraft were summoned for the first time to ferry the organ to Kochi from the state capital. Sharma's wife Latha did not think twice before deciding to donate his organs.

Reflecting on it, Dr Jose Chacko said that he went through tense moments for over a day to complete the process which began with co-ordinating to make the transportation successful and ended with the completion of the surgery by 4 the next morning.

"When the authorities of Kerala Network for Organ Sharing (KNOS) informed us about the availability of an organ, I dissuaded transplant co-ordinator Rajesh in our hospital saying that it would be difficult to complete the transplantation process in four hours since by road it will take at least three hours to reach Kochi from Thiruvananthapuram. I then went to the surgical room for a bypass surgery. As the surgery progressed, it struck my head 'why can't we try airlifting the organ.' I remembered the recent statement of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala to try it in the wake of accidents involving rushing ambulances. Moreover, Mathew Achadan's condition was becoming worse. After finishing the surgery, I came out around 6 p.m. and rang up Hibi Eden MLA to explore the possibility. I also told him that the Navy's services may be utilised in this regard. He said he would speak to the Chief Minister. I was able to speak to the Chief Minister around 11 p.m. and the Chief Minister was very forthcoming. He said he had given instructions to District Collector M.G. Rajamanickam and asked me to co-ordinate with him and the Navy," said Dr Jose Chacko.

"Since the doctors in Thiruvanathapuram wanted to confirm the brain death of the patient once again the next morning, we got a breathing space. Meanwhile, Navy commander Sreedhar Warrier worked at their end. With single engine helicopters at its disposal, the Navy was doubtful of carrying the four-member crew in one. The next morning when the green signal came from the doctors in Thiruvananthapuram, the Navy too had decided to provide a Dornier aircraft instead of a helicopter," he said.

"The rest is history. Everybody co-operated and the first organ airlifting in the state took place. We were nervous because of the live media coverage of the event. With God's grace, the team comprising Dr Jacob Abraham, Dr Jeevesh Thomas and Dr Joe Joseph could bring the harvested heart and complete the transplantation within four hours. I had my apprehensions about Dornier's safety due to memories of an earlier crash involving it in Kochi which made me extra nervous. But everything passed off well and l left the operation theatre by 4 a.m.,” said Dr Jose Chacko.

He recalled the rare show of co-ordination and spirit that made it happen. “Every bead was in its place to create the chain. From administrators to politicians to workers and medical professionals and Navy had the zest to save a life. This embodies Kerala's true spirit," he summed it up.

A pioneer in heart transplantation in the state, Dr Jose Chacko Periyapuram has so far done 16 heart transplantations since 2003 when he started it. The doctor says that the awareness and the zest to make organ donation happen and resurrect lives has increased manifold in the state that boasts of high health indices and literacy levels.

“Moreover technology too has advanced so much so that a lot of difficulties too have been removed. It is almost two-and-a-half decades since we began it all with kidney transplantation when initially people had a lot of misgivings about it.”

“The relatives of the first heart donor Sukumaran refused to do his last rites since his heart was donated. We have come a long way from that also. Today his son Sunil has become a councilor and has been honoured by the people of Paravur municipality. There were allegations earlier that organs are donated for money. That too has become low,” he said.

Dr Jose Chacko made it a point to congratulate the media, both print and visual, for creating awareness on organ donation.

“Ours is a temperamental society. If doctors fail in an attempt, we will be arraigned as villains. That makes our job more difficult. Anyway the media has done a lot of help by spreading the message of organ donation.”

“The live coverage of first organ transportation by air also helped. Media often gets a lot of brickbats for sensationalism. But here they have done yeoman service.”

“Today Kerala has six centres for heart transplantation and we are set to overtake Tamil Nadu which leads in organ donation. Kerala has so far conducted 22 heart transplants,” he said.