Organs of 5-day-old brain-dead child give new lease of life to two

Mumbai: A 5-day-old girl from Surat, who was declared brain-dead following a critical condition, gave a new lease of life to two infants after her parents donated her organs- a liver, two kidneys, and two eyes.
One of the recipients was a 13-month-old boy from Surat, who received a liver transplant at Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital in Vile Parle West, Mumbai. It was the first time an organ was transported by train between Surat and Mumbai. The liver travelled the distance of 277 km in just 3 hours and 27 minutes.
The journey began early Saturday morning at 4:45 am a specialised team consisting of a transplant physician, liver anaesthetist, organ donation coordinator and specialised liver care nurses from Nanavati Max Hospital arrived at SDA Diamond Hospital to collect the donated liver and with the help of local authorities, they reached Surat railway station for the Tejas Rajdhani Express, which departed at 5:12 am. The train reached Borivali station at 7:40 a.m. and the organ reached the hospital by 8:12 am.
Dr Anurag Shrimal, director of Liver, Pancreas, and Intestine Transplant at Nanavati Max Hospital, said, “It was a historic first for organ transport between Gujarat and Mumbai.”
The transplant surgery duration was over 10 hours. Dr Shrimal explained that they took extra precautions due to the young age of the recipient. “We performed a microscopic surgery, and I’m happy to report that the procedure was successful. The child is recovering well,” he added.
The 13-month-old boy had been diagnosed with Crigler-Najjar Syndrome Type 1, a rare metabolic disorder that affects the liver’s function to process bilirubin. Dr Vibhor Borkar, who had been treating the child, explained that increased bilirubin levels could cause critical complications like brain damage.
Finding a suitable donor for paediatric transplants is very difficult as there are very rare organ donations in children. In this case, the boy’s parents were unable to donate their own organs and hence this organ donation was the best solution to be found.