Indore woman donates heart to 16-year-old Mumbai girl

The heart of a 20-year-old brain dead girl travelled 546 km between Indore and Mumbai within one hour and 58 minutes, saving a 16-year-old girl suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy. It is the first inter-state heart transplant on a minor to be conducted in the city and the first one in India this year.

A team of doctors at Fortis Hospital, Mulund conducted a successful heart transplant on the 16-year-old recipient from Vikhroli on Sunday. When the Indore patient was declared brain dead, her family gave the consent to donate her heart and liver. The donor was then moved to Choitaram Hospital, Indore for evaluation and assessment.

A Chennai-based NGO, Mohan Foundation, that works for organ donation across the world facilitated this donation. Talking about the transplantation, Dr Sunil Shroff, founder of the NGO, said, “This year, it is the first inter-state heart transplant recorded in India. And what is more interesting is that the donation was made from a second tier city to a first tier city.

However, it should be the other way round. Mumbai needs to get more donations to meet the growing demand of organ transplantation.”

“This success story will help young patients suffering from end-stage organ failure. The patient is now stable and will be kept under observation for the next 48-72 hours,” said Dr Vijay Agarwal, head of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery of the hospital.

Dr Sujata Patwardhan, general secretary, Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee, Mumbai, said, “The list of patients with end-stage organ failure in increasing and we hope that we will steadily progress towards bridging the gap.”

In 2015, around 50 heart transplants were recorded across the country, while the contribution of Mumbai was only five. Talking about the trend, Dr Shroff stressed on the need to involve corporate houses and high-network people who have private jets that can further facilitate inter-state organ donation. “People with private jets should come forward to help in such cases. That will not only help in stopping wastage of valuable organs, but also cut the cost of such inter-state donations,” he added further.

Dr Anvay Mulay, head of cardiac transplant team of the hospital, retrieved the heart and left for Mumbai at 7.11 am, while the liver was sent for a recipient in Delhi.

The donor heart reached Indore airport at 7.24 am and was immediately moved into an IndiGo commercial flight which took off at 7.41 am and landed at the city domestic airport at 8.49 am.

An ambulance, which was kept on standby for the swift transfer of the heart, left the airport at 8.51 am and reached Fortis Hospital, Mulund at 9.07 am following the green corridor route laid out from the domestic airport to Fortis Hospital.