After water, Latur receives the gift of life

Mumbai, April 13: Few hours after Latur received the life-saving water from the Maharashtra administration, it received another gift from a 22-yaer old boy from Gujarat. Brain dead from a bike accident, donor Kalpesh Lukhi's heart was transported and planted in a farmer's son, hailing from Latur.

Thanks to a well-coordinated effort by Surat and Mumbai authorities, the heart was successfully transplanted in nearly 60 minutes.

The airport in the both the cities went out of the way to accommodate the air ambulance that landed at Surat airport to collect the heart. When the Surat airport authorities were informed about the post 9 pm flight, an emergency 40-member team of ATC personnel was created who regulated the flight departure at 12 am.

Vijay Agarwal, Head of Pediatric cardiac surgery, Fortis said, "The operation went from 2 am to 5 am after which the patient was shifted to ICU. He is currently on ventilator but stable. He will remain in the hospital for 3-4 weeks."

"The organ was transported to Fortis from Mumbai airport with a convoy of three police vehicles in mere 14 minutes, which enabled the transplant to commence at 5.30 am after which the recipient was shifted to ICU at around 7am. The main aim was to make the organ reach the recipient as soon as possible, which was successfully achieved," said an official from MAB that transported the heart from Surat to Mumbai.

OneIndia News