Pune: 5 get new lease of life after relatives of 32-year-old farmer donate organs

Heart given to Jaslok hospital, Mumbai; liver and kidneys sent to Pune

June 19, 2024 

Pune: A 32-year-old farmer from Danoli village, Sangli, has posthumously saved the lives of five individuals through the donation of his organs. Declared brain dead, his heart, liver, kidneys, corneas, and skin were retrieved on Tuesday. The farmer’s heart was transplanted into a 49-year-old patient at Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital. One kidney each was allocated to patients at Aditya Birla and Sahyadri Hospitals in Pune, while his liver was transplanted at Ruby Hall Hospital in Wanowrie. His skin and corneas were also donated.

Suffering from epilepsy since childhood and unable to work effectively due to his condition, the farmer had cerebral venous thrombosis, which led to an intracerebral haemorrhage. He was initially treated at a local hospital before being transferred to Ushahkal Abhinav Institute of Medical Sciences (UAIMS) in Sangli, where he was declared brain dead.

Following the family’s consent for organ donation, teams from hospitals in Mumbai and Pune coordinated the retrieval and transport of the organs. A green corridor was established from Sangli to Kolhapur airport for the heart, which was flown to Mumbai via chartered flight. Other organs were transported to Pune through similar corridors.

Dr. Anand Malani, MD, head of medicine and chief of the organ donation and transplant program at UAIMS, expressed gratitude towards the donor’s family for their selfless act. “The donor was a farmer, unmarried, and a patient of epilepsy under regular treatment. His parents, also farmers, and his IT engineer brother willingly consented to donate all viable organs,” he said.

This marks the 32nd organ donation under the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) Pune zone this year, highlighting the ongoing efforts and coordination in the region to facilitate life-saving transplants.