82-year old brain-dead man saves chronic liver patient's life

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 5: An 82-year old brain-dead man has given a new lease of life to a patient about half his age with his family donating his liver.

The liver was harvested from the elderly man and has been successfully tansplanted on the 44-year old patient at KIMS Hospital here, a release from the hospital said.

Vikraman of Chackai here suffered serious head injury in a road accident recently and was declared brain-dead by doctors.

Even at the time of tragic personal loss, his family members conveyed their willingness for donating the liver, it said.

"Vikraman was quite healthy with no other diseases. The noble gesture of his family has given a fresh lease of life to the recipient who had been ailing from a chronic liver disease for the past several years," KIMS Hospital Chairman and Managing Director Dr M I Sahadulla said.

The Kerala Network for Organ Sharing (KNOS), the nodal agency of the state government, sprung into action and completed all legal formalities for the transplantation, it said.

A team of doctors at KIMS, led by Dr B Venugopal, the Chief Liver Transplant Surgeon, conducted the complicated surgery which lasted for more than twelve hours.

The organ recipient had been discharged from the hospital, the release said.

PTI