Mother donates organs to save her son’s life

KOCHI: A  mother has risked her own life to undergo organ donation for her son born with a rare genetic disease called primary hyperoxaluria.

Rubin needs to undergo frequent dialysis to sustain his life. Both of his kidneys had failed, and a combined liver and kidney transplant was the only curative option available. Since Rubin’s mother was the only eligible organ donor in the family, she decided to donate a portion of her liver and a kidney to her son. Last month, she donated the left lobe of her liver to him, and the procedure was successful.

It was at Lisie Hospital, Ernakulam, the rare multiorgan transplantation was held. The doctors at the hospital decided to perform a liver transplant first, followed by a kidney transplant three months later. Vijila is now set to donate one of her kidneys to her son after two months.

Dr Venugopal, the chief of surgical gastroenterology and liver transplantation, and his team performed the liver transplantation. The surgery involved the participation of other doctors, including Dr Fadl H Veerankutty, Dr Shaji Ponnambathayil, Dr Prameel from the department of liver transplant surgery and Dr  Rajeev, Dr Vineeth and Dr Vishnu from the transplant anaesthesia team.

The Lisie Hospital management offered a subsidised package for liver transplantation and free dialysis after liver transplant until kidney transplantation.