Pune: The family of a daily wage worker (28), who died due to a fall, consented to donate his organs, giving a new lease of life to at least four patients across Pune and Nashik.The worker was engaged in roofing work when he fell from the second floor of his house on Aug 9, suffering severe head injuries. He was rushed to Dr Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil Pravara Rural Hospital in Loni, Ahilyanagar district. Despite intensive care, he was declared brain-stem dead as per established medical criteria.Dr Suresh Jagdale, medical superintendent at the hospital, said, “Our team tried its best, but unfortunately he could not be saved. Even as the family mourned the sudden loss of a young son, husband and brother, his wife and brother displayed rare courage by agreeing to organ donation.”“Following their consent, hospital authorities, in coordination with the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC), Pune, retrieved his vital organs, lungs, liver and kidneys at our hospital for allocation to waiting recipients,” Jagdale told TOI.The lungs and liver were allocated to a private hospital in Pune, and both the kidneys were allocated to the hospital in Nashik for transplantation. The case underscores how rural hospitals in Maharashtra have increasingly become sites of organ retrieval, extending the reach of transplant networks beyond big-city ICUs.For transplant coordinators, every such donation remains critical, as waiting lists for organs are long and timely consent from grieving families often makes a difference between life and death for patients on dialysis or ventilator support.Aarti Gokhale, coordinator of ZTCC Pune, said, “The pain of losing a loved one is beyond words. Yet, even during such an extremely difficult time, his wife and family demonstrated extraordinary courage by consenting to donate his organs.”As the man’s organs reach transplant theatres in Pune and Nashik, doctors said his legacy would live on through the recipients who return home to their families, proving that even at an age of 28, one life can light up many others.
