Mangaluru, April 14: Vital organs of a youth were airlifted for the first time in DK, from Mangaluru to Bengaluru by bringing the traffic to a halt on the night of Monday April 13th.
Jeevan Vijay Fernandez (24), from Belloor, Bantwal, had met with an accident on the night of Friday April 10th at Adyar. His vital organs – kidneys, liver and heart valve were sent to Bengaluru.
Traffic throughout the stretch connecting Mangaluru airport was brought to a complete halt for transporting visceral organs to Bengaluru. From the airport, the organs were carried by special flight to Bengaluru.
Accident details:
Jeevan accompanied by another man was riding his bike towards Mangaluru to attend a function on Friday night. Meanwhile, a pedestrian crossing the road came across their way. Jeevan applied brake suddenly to avoid knocking onto pedestrian. As an impact, he was thrown on to the road and suffered head injuries. After battling for life for over two days in the hospital, the doctors declared him brain dead.
Later Jeevan’s family decided to donate his vital organs, such as heart, kidneys, liver and eyes.
Jeevan, was employed as a salesman of spare parts for automobiles.
Jeevan, is the son of Jerome and Gracy Fernandez couple and was the third child among their four children. His sister is supposed to get married on May 4th. His father is said to be suffering from cancer.
Though initially the doctors had decided to send only his liver as the entire procedure was done for the first in Mangaluru, later they decided to transport his heart valve and kidneys also.
The corneas of Jeevan’s eyes were also donated, but they will be preserved in Mangaluru itself.
The heart valve will be taken to to Narayana Hrudalaya and the liver will be taken to BGS Global Hospital.
The organs which were specially packed in ice boxes; were carried from AJ hospital by ambulance which reached the airport in just 12 minutes.
A team of surgeons from Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation (ZCCKT), Bengaluru arrived in the city by special flight and along with two surgeons from AJ Hospital, conducted the two-hour procedure at AJ Hospital where Jeevan was admitted.
Speaking to the media, Dr Sudheesh Rao, ICU specialist at AJ Hospital, said, this is happening for the first time in AJ Hospital and Mangaluru. Our patient’s brain was injured due to the accident. His brain was dead and would not have functioned again. In such a case, his heart, liver and kidneys function normally and will be useful for other patients which can be transplanted.
Within 45 minutes, the organs should reach Bengaluru, post which they will be placed in a special solution and transplanted to other patients. Traffic will be brought to halt while transporting the liver to the Mangaluru airport. This is being done for the first time in Mangaluru.
Four surgeons – two from AJ hospital and two from Bengaluru, conducted the procedure. In future, we will take the initiative to transplant other organs, he added.
Jeevan’s cousin Vincent Pinto Angelore speaking to the media said that due to the accident, Jeevan’s brain had stopped functioning. Jeevan’s sister Jennifer who is employed at AJ Hospital had suggested that his organs could be donated to other needy patients. Hence, his family decided to go ahead with the gesture, which has set an example to all along with creating medical history in the district.
Mangaluru Traffic Department deserves a special gratitude for their perfect synchronization with the medical team to achieve it.
