A 43-year-old man from Odisha, who was declared brain dead after suffering a severe head injury, has helped give a new lease of life to four people in three different states through organ donation. Prasenjit Mohanty, a native of Bhubaneswar, was admitted to SUM Ultimate (SUMUM), a private hospital in the city, after a fall at his home on June 22 left him badly injured. Though his condition had initially slightly improved following a brain surgery, it later deteriorated. “Despite some initial improvement in his condition, subsequently it deteriorated. An Apnea test (to determine brain death) was conducted on June 23 and we came to know that the patient was brain dead. A second test was done after six hours which confirmed the earlier report,” said Dr Somnath Prasad Jena, a neurosurgeon consultant at SUMUM. Dr Swetapadma Dash, chief executive officer of the hospital, said that when family members were told about the patient's medical status, they offered to donate his organs. As per protocol, the hospital authorities then alerted the organ and tissue transplant organisation at the state, regional and national level. “Medical teams from Kolkata and New Delhi reached SUMUM on Saturday and a 20-member team comprising surgeons from SUMUM and outstation doctors retrieved the required organs in a procedure that took four and a half hours,” said Dash. According to hospital sources, both kidneys, both lungs and the liver of the patient were donated. Prasenjit's wife Mrudumanjari Mohapatra said her husband would have wanted his organs to be donated. “My husband always wanted to do something for society when he was alive. I took the decision to donate his organs to respect his wishes. It was not an easy decision for me. But, his family members, my family members and other relatives supported my decision,” she said. Police created a green corridor in Bhubaneswar for transporting the organs in two ambulances from the hospital to the Biju Patnaik Airport from where they were taken to the two cities accompanied by medical teams. According to SUMUM sources, of the two kidneys, one was transplanted on a patient at SUMUM on Saturday night while another was taken to a hospital at Cuttack for transplantation on another patient. The two lungs were flown to a private hospital in Kolkata to help a teenager in critical condition who has been waiting for the organs for 45 days. The liver was transported to a private healthcare facility in New Delhi to be transplanted on another patient, hospital sources said.
