COIMBATORE: In a gesture that would inspire others to donate their organs, the eyes of 98-year-old Palani Swami from Mannarai in Tirupur were donated to Aravind Eye Bank here on Monday. He had already finished all the formalities concerning the donation of his eyes even before his death.
Soon after his death, his grand daughter informed the eye bank and a team from the bank reached Palani Swami’s house. “Usually the cornea has to be removed within six hours after death and the team immediately took the body to Aravind Hospital in Tirupur for the transplant surgery. Soon after the surgery at the hospital, the body was sent back to his relatives and the harvested eye was transported to Aravind Eye Bank in Coimbatore,” said Prakash Kumar, Manager of the Eye Bank. He said, the attitude of people in Tirupur towards organ donation is very positive and an inspiration to several others.
“Tirupur leads in the number of organ donors,” added Prakash Kumar.