Bengaluru: Yatharth Aradhya, the brain-dead child whose heart was harvested and transplanted successfully on another toddler in Chennai on Friday, has brought cheers to other families, too.
For Yatharth’s family has given consent to donate not only his heart but also his liver, kidneys and corneas. “The liver has already been transplanted at the Apollo Hospitals while kidneys have been given to be transplanted to a recipient at the Sagar Hospitals in Bengaluru,” said Manjula K U, co-ordinator, Zonal Co-ordination Committee of Karnataka for Organ Transplantation (ZCCK).
Yatharth’s father Amith Aradhya, a software engineer from Mahadevapura, didn’t think twice before saying yes to donate the organs of his brain-dead child.
Even as 30 other patients await heart transplantation in the State, Yatharth’s organ was destined to reach another child in Chennai. For considering the age, height, weight and blood group factors, there was no suitable match here, sources in the ZCCK told Deccan Herald.
The recipient, a two-and-a-half-year-old child, was admitted to the Fortis Malar Hospital in Chennai for a heart problem and had been awaiting transplantation for the last one month. As per rules in Tamil Nadu, the recipient’s name cannot be disclosed.
Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, Medical Director, Manipal Hospitals, said that a team of 20 medical experts was involved in the operation. The team comprised cardiac surgeons, technicians, nurses, transplant specialists and other specialists.
Harish Manian, Facility Director, Fortis Malar Hospital, Chennai, said that an alert was given to transplantation co-ordinators that a brain-dead patient was available in Bengaluru. Then a cross-matching was done by a team of doctors whether the heart can be accepted.
“We deployed a chartered flight, which took off at the HAL airport. The reason for taking a chartered flight is that the Manipal Hospitals is very close to the HAL airport.”
Members of ZCCK co-ordinated with experts at the Manipal Hospitals and the traffic police to create a green corridor to ensure that a glitch-free path was created for the ambulance that would carry the heart to the HAL airport from where it was airlifted to Chennai.
