77-Year-Old’s Organ Donation in Surat Saves Four

Surat : A brain dead 77-year-old man associated with the real estate business in Surat gave a new lease of life to four people after his family decided to donate his vital organs including two kidneys and corneas when he was declared brain dead on Tuesday. 

Bhupendra Gandhi, 77, a resident of Harekrishna Apartment in Adajan was hit by a speeding car when he was going towards Makkai pool in Nanpura on his moped on October 5. Gandhi sustained serious head injuries due to the mishap and he was rushed to the Mahavir hospital where the CT scan reports suggested serious head injuries and blood clot. 

On October 7, the doctors at the Mahavir hospital declared Gandhi as brain dead. The city-based Donate Life NGO’s Nilesh Mandlewala was contacted by the doctors to convince his family members for cadaver donation. 

Mandlewala and his team of volunteers reached the Mahavir hospital in Surat and counselled the family members of the brain dead patients on the importance of cadaver donation to save the lives of others in need of vital organs. 

After the consent of the family members, Donate Life NGO contacted SOTTO. Two kidneys and corneas were collected from the brain dead patient. While one kidney was transplanted in the Surat-based 61-year-old woman, while the other kidney was transplanted in a 24-year-old man in Mumbai. 

A green corridor was created from Mahavir Trauma Hospital in Surat to Sterling Hospital in Vadodara to ensure the kidney reaches on time. The Surat city police, police of various cities of the state and village police coordinated for the green corridor. 

It is worth mentioning that 126 Green Corridors have been constructed by Surat City Police so far to deliver important organs like heart, lung, hand, small intestine, liver and kidney to different cities of the country on time.

A total of 1264 organs and tissues have been donated by Donate Life from Surat and South Gujarat. In which 514 kidneys, 224 livers, 54 hearts, 50 lungs, 9 pancreases, 5 hands, 1 small intestine and 407 eyes have been donated, a total of 1162 persons from the country and abroad have been successfully given a new life and new vision.