'Family with a big heart': Brain dead 52-year-old woman saves multiple lives through organ donation

Indore, Jan 17: The hands of a brain dead 52-year-old woman in Indore in Madhya Pradesh were transplanted into a 18-year-old girl in Mumbai, whose birthday was on Sunday - the day the donor died. Health official on Monday said it was the first of its kind in the state and was a "revolution in the field of organ donation".

The woman's kin gave consent for donation of her skin, eyes, lungs, liver and kidneys as well, he said.

Indore resident Vinita Khajanchi was admitted to a private hospital here on the morning of January 13 following a serious brain ailment and was declared brain-dead two days later.

"This is the first time in the history of the state both hands of a brain dead person have been donated. This is like a revolution in the field of organ donation," Dr Sanjay Dixit, secretary of the Indore Society for Organ Donation, told PTI. The organisation strives to facilitate organ donations.

Dixit, who is also dean of the state-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, said Khajanchi's hands were sent to Mumbai on Monday by a special flight.

An 18-year-old girl, who does not have limbs since birth, will receive the hands through a transplant at a private hospital there, he added.

Khajanchi has two daughters and her husband Sunil runs a transport business.

Her elder daughter Niriha said, "There was always a special place for girls in the heart of my mother. It is a coincidence that after her death, both her hands are going to be transplanted into an 18-year-old girl."

Sandeepan Arya, a volunteer from Muskan Group, an NGO that promotes organ donation, said Khajanchi's lungs were flown to Chennai by a special flight and will be transplanted into two needy patients, while her liver and the two kidneys will go to recipients in Indore.

Khajanchi's skin and eyes have been preserved in organ banks, Arya said.