BENGALURU: A traffic-free corridor from Mysuru to Bengaluru helped save the life of a 50-year-old man on Saturday. A liver was transported from Mysuru in just two hours. On a normal day, road travel between the two cities takes three hours and a half.
The ambulance, with a convoy of police vehicles, left Mysuru at 8.55 am and reached Columbia Asia Hospital, Yeshwantpur, by 11 am. In Bengaluru, it took six minutes for the vehicles to travel 12 km, along the NICE expressway via Tumkur Road, to reach the hospital.
Dr Kanchan Sanyal, Chief of Medical Services, Columbia Asia, Yeshwantpur, said the hospital came to know at 2.30 pm on Friday about a potential donor from JSS Hospital, Mysuru. “With the help of the Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka (ZCCK) and the police, we set up a green corridor,” she said.
She praised the donor’s family, and said often, families back out at the last minute for sentimental or religious reasons. The liver transplant was successful, and the patient was moved to an ICU by evening, she told Express.
Benefits 4 People
Sriman Narayana was declared dead in Mysuru on Friday, following a hit and run accident on Tuesday. His kidneys, eyes and liver were retrieved. The donation benefited four people on Saturday. Apart from the liver transplant, the kidneys were transplanted to patients at private hospitals in Bengaluru, and the eyes were retained for patients at JSS Hospital in Mysuru.
For ambulance driver Pemmaiah, this was his third time through a green corridor, and his first outside Bengaluru. He has been an ambulance driver with the hospital for five years.
Police Present
Guruswamy M, Medical Superintendent of JSS Hospital, said preparations began on Friday evening. “The declaration of brain death has to be done by the ZCCK. It cannot be done unilaterally by the hospital. It also requires the presence of the jurisdictional police. In this case, the police of both the hospital area and the accident spot were present,” he said. At 5 am on Saturday, a team from Columbia Asia arrived at JSS Hospital to harvest the organs. The ambulance left Mysuru at 8.55 am. The kidneys were transported in a car, ZCCK officials said.
Hospital Waives Bills
Sriman Narayana’s family had incurred medical expenses of about Rs 6 lakh. The bills at JSS Hospital alone had come up to about Rs 55,000. The hospital has waived that amount, according to Medical Superintendent Guruswamy. The hospital will also bear the ambulance cost, coming to about Rs 15,000, he said.
I have Fulfilled My Son’s Wish, Says Donor’s Dad
Mysuru: Sriman Narayana was hit by a two-wheeler when he was talking to a friend by the road on Tuesday. He was taken to JSS Hospital, where he was declared brain dead on Friday.
Narayana had met with an accident earlier, Venkatesh, his father-in-law, told Express. “He had then told us if anything fatal happens to him, his organs must be donated. Today, we have fulfilled his wish,” he said.
Narayana’s colleague Praveen Kumar said his friend was kind, and had paid with his life for somebody’s fault. “He has become a role model for all of us,” he said.
The road connecting Mysuru and Bengaluru is always busy. But on Saturday, they moved aside, making way for the ambulance.
The ambulance was accompanied by a pilot vehicle and an escort vehicle. Police teams from Srirangapatna, Mandya, Ramanagaram and Kengeri flagged on the vehicles. From Srirangapatna, each town had a policeman manning the traffic. Patrol vehicles were on standby.