Bengaluru: Brain dead 26-year-old gives three patients new lease of life

Bengaluru: “It was a hard decision for me to give my consent for the donating of five of my wife’s organs, but the thought of giving a new lease of life to five critical patients made it easier,” said an emotional husband of Keerthi, who suffered cardio-respiratory arrest and hypoxic brain damage.

Twenty-six-year-old Keerthi was declared brain dead on May 2. "Also, as my wife was a nurse and belonged a noble profession. I was glad that in her death too she performed her duty by giving a new life to many people through this noble deed. She has been a giver all her life and we have continued her legacy," he added.

Keerthi's organs, along with the three critical transplants which lasted some eighteen hours, gave a new lease of life to three patients. The liver, heart, and one kidney were donated to Manipal Hospitals. The corneas were gifted to Narayana Nethralaya and the other kidney to Victoria Hospital.

Keerthi's heart now beats in 34-year-old Chandrasekhar N, who was having difficulty in breathing and was unable to perform regular activities for the past 5 years.

“Fortunately Chandrasekhar did not have to wait for long, as within a day of his discharge, he was called back to Manipal to undergo the procedure. The heart transplant was successfully performed during a grueling 6-hour surgery. His condition post operation was stable as he was then put on immune suppressants, the drugs are used to suppress a patient’s defences against the ‘foreign’ heart. He is now hale and hearty and has resumed his normal activities,” said Dr Devananda N S, HOD and Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Dr Anand Shenoy, Consultant Cardiologist, after a successful first heart transplant at Manipal Hospital.