Even in death, 19-year-old MIT student turns saviour of many

Udupi: A student of Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), who had been declared brain dead, became the savior for many who were in urgent need of organ transplantation.

On October 10 at 8:40 PM, there was a traffic accident in Manipal. Vemula Sudarshan Chowdary (19), a student at MIT and a native of Gurazala Mandal in Andhra Pradesh, was seriously injured. He was rushed to Kasturba Hospital in Manipal for additional care.

Despite the doctors’ best efforts to save him, the prognosis was grim, and he failed to recover or regain consciousness.

The father of Vemula Sudarshan Chowdary, Vemula Alekha Prasad, consented to donate healthy organs to help other patients in need.

In accordance with the process stipulated by the Transplantation of Human Organ Act 1994, Vemula Sudarshan Chowdary was then formally twice at 6-hour intervals proclaimed brain dead by the panel of expert doctors on October 11.

Later, his organs were harvested and transported as per Jeevasarthakathe, SOTTO, Bengaluru protocols and decisions. The liver was sent to KMC Hospital, Ambedkar Circle, Mangaluru; the lungs to Aster CMI, Bengaluru; one kidney to A J Hospital, Mangaluru; and one kidney, corneas/eyeballs, and skin were held by Kasturba Hospital Manipal for the registered patients in order to save their lives.

With the assistance of the Udupi and Dakshina Kannada police departments, the harvested organs were transported from Manipal to Mangaluru via the Green Corridor to the recipient hospitals.