The family of a 45-year-old autorickshaw driver, who was declared brain dead at AIIMS here, donated his organs, helping save the lives of four persons. Karu Singh had come to Delhi on June 30 from Bihar to fix a marriage alliance for his daughter, a doctor said.
According to the doctor, Singh had fallen from the terrace of his relative's house where he was put up and was rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre by the family at around 1 am on July 1. Later, he was declared brain stem dead on the same day at 4.13 pm, the doctor said.
After being informed about the option of organ donation by doctors and transplant coordinators of the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation (ORBO) located in AIIMS, the family came forward and equivocally decided in favor of organ donation.
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"What has happened to our father is unfortunate, but if his donated organs can end suffering and give a new lease of life to people desperately waiting for a kidney, liver, or heart, then we consider it as an act of righteousness and ‘Punya’ (virtue)," the daughter said.
Singh’s organs were retrieved on July 2, the doctors said.
The donated heart was transplanted into a 40-year-old female, a 62-year-old male received the liver and one kidney was transplanted to a 56-year-old man at AIIMS, Delhi while the other kidney was allocated to a 37-year old-woman in RML hospital by NOTTO (RNational Organ & Tissue Transplant Organization), said Dr. Aarti Vij, head of the ORBO.
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Also, his corneas have been banked in National Eye Bank in AIIMS. The effective and efficient coordination by the transplant team made the whole process swift, she said.
"The huge gap in the demand and availability of organs can be abated only by such righteous decisions taken by the grieving family even in their toughest moments. The courage and selflessness that they displayed at a crucial time is truly commendable and it reiterates one's faith in humanity," Dr. Vij said.
