VIJAYAWADA: Twentytwo-year-old car driver Thota Manikanta, who donated his organs to needy patients, has become a hero overnight. Even after his death, he lives on in the hearts of many for his noble act.
Manikanta, as he died, gave a new lease of life to six people hailing from different locations in the country.
Students and the faculty of Vignan University, at a meeting organised on the campus at Peda Vadlapudi in Guntur district on Saturday, praised Manikanta for his noble gesture.
Manikanta, who was injured in a bike accident on March 3, was declared brain dead when brought to hospital. With the consent of his family members, Manikanta’s heart, liver, eyes, kidneys and lungs were harvested Friday and within minutes one of his lungs and the heart were shifted to Fortis Hospital in Chennai to be transplanted in a 20-year-old boy, who was ailing with congenital heart defect VSD and pulmonary hypertension.
As soon as the organs arrived, the doctors transplanted the heart and lung in him. His condition is said to be stable now.
With the special request from the Global Hospital in Hyderabad, the liver of Manikanta was taken in a chartered flight from Gannavaram to Hyderabad Friday evening which reached there at 8.30 pm for a 47-year-old male patient.
His two kidneys were shifted to Guntur for two other patients along with eyes for another needy patient at Sankara Eye Hospitals, Guntur.
The last journey of Manikanta began from NRI Hospital, Mangalagiri, at 12.30 pm Saturday. A large number of his relatives and well-wishers followed the ambulance to Ramavarappadu.