HYDERABAD: A 19-year-old from Rasoolpura, Pujair Anil Kumar, who was battling chronic heart disease, received a new lease of life through a heart transplant, thanks to the selfless organ donation of a brain-dead youth.
Anil’s condition had worsened over time, and a transplant was his only hope for survival. That hope turned into reality following an accident involving Uppu Sai Subrahmanyam, a 21-year-old engineering student from Balanagar.
Sai met with a fatal accident while riding his bike and was declared brain-dead while undergoing treatment at a private hospital on March 6. In a remarkable act of generosity, his family decided to donate his organs — kidneys, liver, heart and lungs — through the Jeevandan organ donation initiative.
Since Sai’s blood group matched Anil’s, doctors decided to transplant his heart to save the young patient. The heart was transported via the Metro rail through a green corridor from KIMS, Secunderabad, to NIMS on Friday night.
A team of doctors, led by Dr Amaresh Babu, head of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department at NIMS, performed the transplant. The surgery was conducted free of cost under the Aarogyasri scheme. Anil is now recovering well, doctors said.
Highlighting that this was not the first such case at the hospital, NIMS director Dr N Bheerappa recalled a similar case last year where a patient underwent a simultaneous heart and lung transplant. He emphasised that NIMS was the only hospital in the country to perform such complex procedures.
Health Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha enquired about the patient’s condition and congratulated the doctors on this rare accomplishment. He also promised that the government would further enhance transplantation services at NIMS, ensuring the availability of all necessary facilities for such life-saving procedures.