NEW DELHI: In a rare and emotional moment during proceedings linked to passive euthanasia, the Supreme Court praised the family of Harish Rana for donating his corneas and heart valve after permission was granted to withdraw life support, observing that his “life continues in others” through tissue donation.Rana had remained in a permanent vegetative state since 2013 after falling from a building. On March 11, the Supreme Court allowed his family’s plea to withdraw life support after concluding that there was no possibility of recovery. He passed away on March 24 after being shifted from his residence to palliative care at AIIMS New Delhi in accordance with the court’s order.Even in grief, the family chose tissue donation so that Rana’s corneas and heart valve could help patients in need. “This litigation has taught many things to one and all, including two of us as judges,” the bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan observed. “His family chose generosity through the selfless decision to donate his corneas and heart valve. Through this act, his life continues in others. His legacy will live on in the lives of those he saved,” the court said.Dr Seema Misra, prof and head of onco-anaesthesia and palliative medicine at AIIMS, said the family had undergone years of emotional suffering and legal struggle before reaching the final stage of the process. “Even if families prepare themselves legally and medically, the actual moment of loss is emotionally overwhelming,” she said.According to Dr Misra, doctors held detailed discussions with the family after the Supreme Court order to explore whether any form of donation was medically feasible. Since conventional organ donation was not possible in this situation, AIIMS teams assessed the possibility of tissue donation, including corneas and heart valves.She said specialised retrieval teams were involved and the process was carried out swiftly after Rana’s death. “Those moments are extremely stressful because on one hand the family is losing someone close to them, but at the same time they took a very noble decision after multiple counselling sessions. I think they found some satisfaction in knowing that they were doing something meaningful for society,” she said.Doctors said cornea donation generally does not cause visible disfigurement, while heart valve retrieval is also carried out respectfully with proper reconstruction procedures afterwards. AIIMS officials said details regarding recipients are usually not disclosed because of confidentiality norms governing tissue allocation and transplantation.A lawyer associated with the case said the Supreme Court’s observations appreciating the family’s decision were dictated in court.
