2 days, 2 organ donations: Kolkata doctors turn grief into hope for 5 Indians

Within a course of just two days doctors at a hospital in Kolkata have helped give a new lease of life through two timely organ donationsIn two poignant instances of humanity and kindness Manipal Hospital EM Bypass helped facilitate the process for the families of two individuals decided to donate organs of their loved ones providing five others with a second lease of lifeThe first case involved Dr Sanchita Bakshi 76 retired director of Health Services Government of West Bengal who continued her lifelong passion for public health even beyond her death Dr Bakshi was one of the most prolific contributors to many state health programs in her professional life Following an intracerebral hemorrhage and being declared braindead at the hospital her family fulfilled her wishes by contributing her organsHer liver was transplanted into a 48yearold male at IPGMER whereas her kidneys were transplanted into a 49yearold female at RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac SciencesHer corneas were also stored ROTTO East organised the retrieval and transplant operations Interestingly Dr Bakshi is the most senior deceased donor in ROTTO Easts database and this is the 14th deceased organ donation in Bengal this yearThe second act of kindness was just a day after the first when the family of a 65yearold man also a resident of Kolkata who had been taken to the hospital following a fall and subsequent vomiting of blood chose to donate his organs after he was diagnosed as braindeadHis liver was transplanted to a 50yearold at Apollo Multispecialty Hospital while one kidney was transplanted into 43yearold male at RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences and the other into a 54yearold female at Manipal Hospital MukundapurTheir altruistic gesture again underlined how organ donation converts tears of sorrow to rays of hope for several familiesCommenting on the two successive donations Dr Tanmay Banerjee director and HOD Critical Care at the hospital said These backtoback donations bring to our notice the invaluable importance of organ donation in terms of saving lives An important aspect of this process is preserving the donors body prior to retrieval Supporting circulation ventilation and organ function in a braindead donor requires advanced medical equipment continuous monitoring and highly skilled manpower working round the clock Every hour of preservation calls for a coordinated and meticulous approach to keeping the organs viable This effort gives several patients a renewed chance of life Families who consent to organ donation during such difficult times make this gesture a gift beyond measurerdquoTo this Dr Ayanabh Debgupta regional chief operating officer Manipal Hospitals East added Our programme MOST ndash Manipal Organ Sharing amp Transplant is critical in enabling the sharing of organs between the Manipal network so that no organ is wasted and every chance to save a life is optimised These two cases are reminders of what can be achieved through cooperation between families hospitals and organizationsrdquo