Organs of 5-day-old infant give new lease of life to three children

Organs retrieved from a 5-day-old brain-dead infant in Surat city of Gujarat have given a fresh lease of life to three children who received his kidneys and liver.

The baby boy was born on October 13 at a private hospital here but his parents’ joy was short-lived after doctors said it was not making any movement. “He was rushed to another hospital in Surat city and kept on a ventilator. Despite their best efforts, doctors realised that there were no chances of any recovery and the baby was eventually declared brain-dead,” said Vipul Talaviya, managing trustee of NGO Jeevandeep Organ Donation Foundation (JODF).

After learning about the infant’s condition, Talaviya said he and Dr Nilesh Kachhadiya of state-run New Civil Hospital reached the paediatric hospital, where the baby was admitted, to persuade his parents Harsh Sanghani and his wife Chetna to save lives through organ donation. Harsh works as a diamond artisan and hails from Amreli district.

Touched by the appeal that the organs of their brain-dead son would give new life to other children, the couple and their family members gave their consent for the noble cause.

The infant’s grandmother Rashmiben played a key role in persuading others to go for the organ donation, said Talaviya.

“Since a distant member of the Sanghani family had received a heart through an organ donation initiative many years back, Rashmiben told the family that the time had come to repay that debt,” said Talaviya.

After receiving the family’s consent, doctors at PP Savani Hospital harvested two kidneys, two corneas, the liver and the spleen from the body of the infant on Wednesday,” said Talaviya.

As per the direction of the Gujarat State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO), the corneas were donated to an eye bank in Surat, while the kidneys and the spleen were immediately transported to the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC) in Ahmedabad. The liver was sent to the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in New Delhi.

“We have just learnt that the infant’s liver was successfully transplanted into a nine-month-old child in New Delhi,” said Talaviya.

Director of IKDRC Dr Vineet Mishra on Thursday confirmed that the baby’s two kidneys gave a new life to two children aged 13 years and 15 years.