Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Updated
Mangaluru, Jul 3: In a heart-warming gesture, the family of Leena Binoy who passed away on Thursday July 2 following an accident, has donated her organs.
Leena Binoy (40) met with an accident at Valencia on July 1 when a scooter ridden by youngsters hit her. She suffered grievous injuries and was declared brain dead a day later at AJ Hospital.
Leena was the Mangaluru centre director of Euro Kids pre-school.
On Friday June 3, as per her family's wishes, Leena's organs were donated. Their wish was conveyed to the zonal co-ordination committee (ZCCK) of Karnataka who in turn activated the retrieval team and the recipient list for organs. After necessary legal clearances, the organ retrieval team of ZCCK arrived from Bengaluru on July 3 to take the organs. A green corridor was created to transport the organs from the hospital to the airport.
Leena's kidneys, liver, heart valve and cornea are being harvested. Her liver was taken to Victoria hospital, Bengaluru by a Jet Airways flight at around 12 pm, while one of the two kidneys was taken to Kidney Foundation, Bengaluru by 4 pm flight. The other kidney has been retained at AJ Hospital for transplant.
It may be mentioned here that in April, the family of Jeevan Fernandes had been donated by creating a green corridor from AJ Hospital to Mangaluru airport for the first time in the city's medical history.
First-ever organ transplant at govt hospital in State
Victoria Hospital became the first state-run health care centre in Karnataka to perform an organ transplant after Leena Binoy's liver was transplanted into a 38-year-old man.
The transplant took place at the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) Hospital on the Victoria Hospital campus in Bengaluru. The organ came from the AJ Hospital in Mangaluru.
A team of six experts from the hospital (two transplant surgeons, two intensivists, two anaesthetists and two co-ordinators) supported by experts from BGS Global Hospital performed the procedure that lasted till late on Friday night.
A team of doctors from Bengaluru flew to Mangaluru to harvest the organ. “The team started for Mangaluru by a 7.15 am flight and the liver was retrieved. A green corridor was created from the hospital to the airport. The organ was not airlifted in a chartered flight. However, with the co-ordination of the customs department, the flight took off on a VIP lane and the check-in procedure was also eased,” said a specialist from the hospital.
The Bengaluru traffic police created a green corridor from the Kempegowda International Airport to Victoria Hospital. A senior police officer said that the green corridor was created from 1.13 pm to 1.45 pm. The stretch of 42 km was covered in 38 minutes."
"Ideally, the harvested liver can be kept in cold eschemia for 12 hours. However, longer the duration, higher is the damage. Thus, our aim was to ensure that it reaches the hospital at the earliest," said the specialist from the PMSSY. The recipient will be kept under observation for at least ten days to ensure that infections are prevented, said doctors.
Family thankful
The recipient’s relatives thanked the donor’s family for giving him a new lease of life. “I have no words to express my gratitude to her family. I would request everyone to consent to organ donation if there has been a brain death in their close circles,” said Shoba, the recipient’s wife.
The recipient comes from a poor economic background and works as a manager in a private hotel. “He suffered from jaundice and was an alcoholic. We tried getting him treated at a private hospital. Besides the cost factor, we were also told that the wait would be longer. Soon, we contacted doctors here and enrolled,” said his elder brother Prasad.
The patient was awaiting a liver transplant for nearly three years, according to the family.
With DHNS Inputs