Donated liver gives retired navy officer freedom from liver cirrhosis on I-Day

A retired naval commander got a new lease of life on the country's 71st Independence Day after the family of a 52-year-old from Aurangabad donated her liver to him.

"The patient was suffering from liver cirrhosis. He registered with us in February, and after a wait of six months, he finally got the organ on August 15," said Dr Ravi Mohanka, chief liver transplant surgeon and head of the department, Global Hospital.

The donor, who had fallen off her two-wheeler on August 13, was admitted to a super-specialty centre. On August 14, her condition deteriorated and she was declared brain-dead. Her family then decided to donate her organs. As per the government rules for organ allocation, the liver went to the Colaba resident, while her kidneys were donated to two patients with chronic kidney disease in Aurangabad.

After confirming that the patient was fit to undergo the transplant procedure, a team of doctors from Global Hospital swung into action. The option of chartering a flight to Aurangabad to retrieve the organ was explored but couldn't be organised. With no commercial flights to Aurangabad available then, the doctors travelled by road. After retrieving the organ, it was brought to Mumbai via a commercial airline.

"The surgery on the donor started around 5.30 pm. We retrieved the liver and reached Mumbai airport at 9.30 pm. The surgery on the recipient continued till 5 am. The patient is stable now and under observation," said Dr Mohanka.