Ghaziabad: A 68-year-old man, declared brain dead at a private hospital on July 24 after suffering a massive vertebrobasilar stroke, gave three patients a new lease of life after his family agreed to donate his organs.The man was admitted to the hospital in Vaishali on July 19 after losing consciousness due to a vertebrobasilar stroke. Vertebrobasilar refers to the blood vessel system in the back of the neck and brain — formed by the vertebral and basilar arteries — that supplies oxygen to the brainstem, cerebellum and visual cortex. The stroke had irreversibly damaged his brainstem. On July 24, the doctors declared him brain dead. The doctors said in this case, the man was capable of donating all his functioning organs barring the brain but according to the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) waitlist, there was an immediate requirement for a liver and kidneys. So his family agreed to donate those organs.One of the kidneys was transplanted into a 39-year-old Sahibabad resident suffering from end-stage chronic kidney disease. The recipient had undergone a kidney transplant several years ago, but the graft had failed, forcing him to return to dialysis. For the past five years, he had been dependent on regular dialysis while awaiting a suitable deceased donor organ through the NOTTO waitlist, as no medically compatible donor was available within his family.The transplant surgery was carried out on July 25 at Max Hospital, Vaishali. Doctors said the recipient is recovering well and remains clinically stable.The donor’s second kidney was allocated to Manipal Hospital, Dwarka. At the same time, the liver was transported to Apollo Hospital for transplantation into another recipient. With the help of traffic police, green corridors were created to both the hospitals. The surgeons who were responsible for the transplants created a cold chain system to keep the organs viable.According to transplant specialists, deceased organ donation remains one of the most effective ways to address the shortage of organs for patients with end-stage kidney, liver and heart diseases. “With countless patients awaiting kidney transplantation, this act of organ donation has provided a new lease of life to two families. Timely retrieval and transplant from brain-dead donors are crucial, and this selfless gesture highlights the urgent need for awareness and action in organ donation,” said Dr Anant Kumar, chairman of urology, renal transplant, robotics and uro-oncology at Max Hospital, Vaishali.
