KOCHI: Subrahmanya Bhatt, 50, is sure to have a special affection for Haryana in the corner of his heart from now. Thanks to the noble gesture of the parents of a young Naval officer, half Bhatt’s age, from the North Indian state, which has given him a new beginning, something he would love to be indebted to for the rest of his life.
It may be just a coincidence that the heart of Atul Kumar Pawar, Sub-Lieutenant, INS Dronacharya, Kochi, was transplanted onto Bhatt, residing at Tripunithura, but his parents had found it the best tribute to their son. They had the courage of conviction.Their son, Atul, 24, of Sector 20, Panchkula, Haryana, was grievously injured in a car crash near Chalakkudy at 11 pm on Wednesday and was admitted to Aster Medcity Hospital.
Despite the efforts by a team of doctors, he could not be revived and was declared clinically dead owing to internal head injuries. After his parents expressed their willingness, his heart, liver and kidneys were harvested to transplant them to recipients at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH, Kottayam), Aster Medcity (Ernakulam), Air Force Command Hospital (Bengaluru) and Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (Ernakulam) in that order.
Kerala Network of Organ Sharing’s (KNOS) Nodal Officer Gracious Noble said, “His father wanted to donate the organs to someone who’s in service and the Naval officers contacted the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation, the Central project dealing with cadaver transplants. They contacted Health Minister K K Shailaja, who directed them to us.”
The authorities completed all regulations, including the presence of a government doctor, to confirm brain death twice in the space of six hours, with the Deputy DMO too present. The Apnea test, mandatory for determining brain death, was also conducted and the same was recorded on video. “It was the unstinted support from District Collector K Mohammed Y Safeerulla, City Police Commissioner M P Dinesh, and District Police Chief (Kottayam) N Ramachandran which ensured the harvested heart was ferried by road in 70 minutes to the Kottayam MCH, where Bhatt has been admitted to,” said KNOS Transplant Coordinator Aneesh. A medical team, led by multi-organ transplant consultant surgeon Mathew Jacob, integrated liver care consultant Charles Panackal and Sajeev Thampi from the Kottayam MCH harvested the organs at Aster Medcity.