Odisha's youngest organ donor's last rites performed with full state honour

The last rites of Odisha’s youngest organ donor Damayanti Mahanta were performed with full state honour in Puri. Her funeral services were performed at Swargadwar cremation ground in the district.

The 14-year-old girl, who was a class 9 student from Keonjhar district and suffering from chronic kidney disease, was declared brain dead, and her parents agreed to donate her organs. She had suffered a brain stroke and was admitted to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar on February 15.

The girl subsequently went into a coma and was on a ventilator, an official said. As she showed no sign of recovery, the expert committee from the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar declared her brain dead. As her parents agreed to donate her organs, the hospital authorities made necessary arrangements, the official said. The surgeons in the AIIMS here had successfully retrieved her liver and sent it to a hospital in New Delhi through a green corridor.

Damayanti was the youngest person in Odisha, who was accorded the full state honour during her last rites as per the recent announcement by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the official said.

The chief minister had earlier announced that organ donors’ last rites would be performed with full state honour in recognition of their sacrifice and bravery.

The state government had, in 2020, instituted the Suraj Award in recognition of a brain-dead organ donor from Ganjam district, who had saved six lives. The next of kin of organ donors are given Rs 5 lakh from the chief minister’s relief fund on World Organ Donation Day every year on August 13.