100-hour-old brain dead infant from Surat gives new lease of life to four babies

Surat: Four babies got a fresh lease of life after the parents of a 100-hour-old brain-dead infant in Gujarat’s Surat city donated his body parts, an organ donation foundation said on Sunday. NGO Jeevandeep Organ Donation Foundation, which played a role in the process, claimed that the infant is the youngest organ donor in the country.

The baby was incubated after birth as he had a feeble heartbeat and was not breathing. After 48 hours of observation, he was referred to a neurosurgeon who declared him brain dead, said an official from the foundation.

Following counselling, the infant’s parents agreed to donate their son’s organs to give a new lease of life to those who needed them, said the managing trustee of the foundation, Vipul Talaviya.

“The baby’s parents Anup and Vandana Thakor agreed to donate his organs after being told about a similar case of a five-day-old baby as recent as October 18, who was until now the youngest donor,” he said.

The infant’s two kidneys, a spleen and eyes were harvested on Friday night, approximately 100 hours after he was born on the evening of October 23, he said. The recipients are all babies.