Sri Lankan undergoes liver transplant, waiting to go home

He went back to Colombo for the preparations as his 21-year-old college-going daughter volunteered to be the donor.

Representative image.

KOCHI: A 46-year-old from Sri Lanka is ready to return home healthier and happier after successfully undergoing liver transplantation in Kochi, once the international flight operations begin after lockdown. 

Firoze (name changed), an employee in a tour company in Colombo, was suffering from end-stage liver disease for close to one year and was told by his doctors in Colombo that he had just a few months to live unless he underwent transplantation. He visited Kochi’s VPS Lakeshore Hospital in November last year for the initial consultation as Sri Lanka is yet to have liver transplantation facilities. As advised by doctors, Firoze decided to undergo transplantation here. 

He went back to Colombo for the preparations as his 21-year-old college-going daughter volunteered to be the donor. As Covid-19 was spreading, it was a life-and-death situation for Firoze to board a flight and reach Kochi. He arrived on March 19, and the liver transplant surgery was performed on May 4. 

“What made the surgery even more unique was that a small part of a blood vessel which was harvested from a brain-dead donor in Thiruvananthapuram was also utilised to supplement a blood vessel inside Fayaz’s body,” said Dr Abhishek Yadav, head of Comprehensive Liver Care Institute at the hospital, who led the surgery. He also added that the patient was discharged on May 18.

SK Abdulla, CEO, VPS Lakeshore Hospital, said this was one among the six liver transplants done at the hospital during the lockdown, including that of a seven-year-old girl.