VIJAYAWADA: The family of William James Swaminathan, 32, who was declared brain-dead by doctors after he was badly injured in a road accident in the city late on Wednesday night, came forward to donate his organs.
The vital organs of the man were harvested at a hospital in the city on Wednesday to give a new lease of life to five patients in Vijayawada, Chennai and Guntur. The deceased William James Swaminathan, a resident of Ajit Singh Nagar, met with a road accident on Wednesday night while returning home from work and suffered serious head injury.
Even though he was immediately admitted to a private hospital, his condition quickly deteriorated. A team of doctors who examined his condition, declared him brain-dead on Thursday morning. Doctors suggested to the grief-stricken parents that they consider donating the organs of their son and give a new lease of life to others. While one of the kidneys of the deceased youth was shifted to city-based Vijaya Super Speciality Hospital, another was sent to Guntur City Hospital.
His heart was shifted to Fortis Hospital, Chennai. The liver was shifted to Manipal Hospitals, Tadepalli. His lungs were transplanted in a woman patient at Global Hospital, Chennai, and eyes were donated to a patient at Vasan Eyecare Hospital in Vijayawada.
The city police provided a green corridor for speedy transport of the organs. The organs were retrieved in one hour and, in the next 18 minutes, liver reached the Gannavaram airport from where it was taken to Chennai in a special chopper arranged by the respective hospitals.
Following the fatal accident, a case of negligent driving was registered by the Suryaraopet police who recovered the number plate of a car involved in the accident. After checking the records with the road transport authority, the police identified the car as belonging to Koneru Veerabhadra Rao, a resident of Kalanagar in the city. However, the police are yet to find out as to who was at the wheel at the time of the accident.
Sacrifice deconstructed