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Brain dead man's organs save lives of three

By IANS

Gurugram, Oct 6: In a rare case, a 52-year-old who was declared brain dead gave a new lease of life to three people by donating kidneys and liver here on Wednesday.

The patient was an organ recipient and had undergone a successful liver transplant. But he suffered from an episode of right sided weakness with slurring of speech. On examination, the MRI suggested intracranial haemorrhage with midline shift, said doctors at Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) in a statement.

"The patient was put on ventilator support, however despite best efforts, the patient was declared brain dead. The family consented to donate organs -- both the kidneys and the liver and the same were allotted by NOTTO to one recipient in FMRI and two recipients at private hospitals in Delhi," the hospital said.

One of the kidneys was transplanted into a 60-year-old female at FMRI, while the second kidney and the liver were allotted to a 51-year-old female and a 54-year-old male respectively in different hospitals in Delhi.

"I salute the deceased donor and his family for having realised the value of organ donation and giving life to many ailing patients. We should all be a part of this noble act of giving life after death by donating organs," said Dr Anil Mandhani, Executive Director, Urology and Kidney Transplant, in a statement.

"The patients who received the kidneys did not have genuine living donors and they were fighting for life on dialysis for a long time. But this gentle act of donation gave them a new lease of life. This should encourage everyone to come forward and get themselves registered for organ donation," he added.

In India, the current organ donation rate is less than 1 donor per million population as compared to more than 30 donors per million in most western countries. There is a serious shortage of organs and the gap between the number of organs donated and the number of people waiting for transplants is ever increasing. Each year, half a million Indians die while waiting for an organ transplant, because no suitable donor can be found for them.

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