In death,he gifted life to three in need of organs

The gesture saved the lives of three terminally ill patients as Debarshi consented to donating both his father’s kidneys as well as the liver.

“My mother wanted to donate her organs but she passed away in 2001 after a cardiac arrest. So,when doctors said there was no hope for my father,I thought organ donation would be the best way to keep him alive,” said Debarshi,who lives in the UK.

Bandyopadhyay suffered brain hemorrhage and was on a ventilator. Transplant coordinators approached the family,and after getting their consent,expedited the procedure so that patients on the waiting list were called in and transplants done over the next 12 hours,until the early hours of January 26.

Bandyopadhyay’s liver was donated to a 13 year old boy with liver failure. One of his kidneys was donated to a 24-year-old woman in Jaslok Hospital and the other to a 48-year-old man in Harkisondas Hospital.

Since January 1,Mumbai has seen four cadaver transplants,involving six kidneys and three livers. Last year,it had 36 kidney and six liver donations. Yet the waiting list continues,with about 1,400 waiting for kidneys and 40 for livers.

“In a span of 15 days,Jaslok Hospital conducted two cadaver transplants. In the first,a 22-year-old met with an accident and was declared brain dead at Lilavati. His family donated his liver to a 57-year-old patient at Jaslok Hospital suffering from liver cirrhosis. The results are encouraging. Earlier it took 15 to 16 hours for transplant,right from retrieval to transplanting. Now it has reduced to 10 to 12 hours,” said Jaslok Hospital medical director K Mohanty,a retired admiral.

Dr Gustad Daver of the Zonal Transplantation Coordination Centre (ZTCC),which coordinates cadaveric organ donations in Mumbai,said it is heartening to note that people are voluntarily coming forward to donate organs. “Five per cent of the total intensive care unit admissions are patients of brain stem death and most can be potential donors,” said Dr Daver.

“It is up to individuals,but after being declared brain dead the body is just a biological entity. If one contributes even a part of it to a living person the cause is worth it,” said Debarshi.