THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:You are never too old to become an organ donor and save a life. An 82-year-old man here has become the oldest organ donor in South India after he met with an accident and his family members donated his liver to a 44-year-old businessman in Kollam. The transplant surgery was done at the KIMS hospital here by Dr B. Venugopal, chief liver transplant surgeon, a month ago.
“The patient has been discharged and is doing well,” Dr Venugopal told this newspaper. The donor S. Vikraman, a bicycle mechanic, who hails from Chackai here, had met with a bike accident and suffered fatal injuries. He was taken to KIMS hospital where his family members agreed to donate his organ when he was declared brain dead. There were four patients waiting for liver transplant at KIMS hospital.
But when Dr Venugopal explained the pros and cons of transplanting the aged person’s liver, the family members of three of them backed out fearing rejection. “Fortunately, the family of Kollam-based businessman was ready to accept the challenge and it proved right,” said Dr Venugopal. He also said that the total expenditure for the surgery, which lasted for more than 12 hours, was Rs 18 lakh. In another six weeks’ time, the patient will be returning to Kollam as he is currently recuperating in the city.
Earlier, when Vikraman’s family expressed their willingness to donate his liver, the Kerala Network of Organ Sharing (KNOS), the nodal agency of the government, completed all the legal formalities for the transplant. Other doctors who assisted Dr Venugopal included Dr T.U. Shabeer Ali, Dr Shiraz Ahamad Rather, anaesthetists Dr Badrinath, Dr Kusuma, Dr Dinit, hepatologist Dr Madhu Sashidharan, senior radiologist Dr Manoj, intensivist Dr Suresh, transplant coordinator Dr Praveen Muralidharan and a nursing team.
Only a few months ago, the same team of doctors had successfully conducted the liver transplant on one-year-old Alia Fathima, the youngest liver transplant recipient in Kerala. The oldest liver donor in the country was Tej Ram of New Delhi, who was 88 years old when he underwent the liver surgery at Sir Gangaram Hospital in 2012.
