THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Jerry Varghese will now live on through five people. It was on July 27 that Mannathala native Jerry was rushed to the hospital after meeting with an unfortunate late night accident. An assistant professor at Viswajyothi Engineering College, Jerry was returning from work when his scooter overturned. The 31-year-old leaves behind his wife Lincy P Abraham, and two-year-old daughter Jaleena Jerry Varghese. But on the way, he is also giving a new lease of life to five patients.
Jerry had sustained serious head injuries in the accident and the police took him to the Medical College Hospital. He was later shifted to a private hospital and was undergoing treatment there. After Jerry was pronounced brain dead on Friday. Lincy promptly took the decision to donate Jerry’s organs.
For H V Easwer, a member of the Brain Death Panel, the moment was a poignant one and he bent down and touched Lincy’s feet as a mark of respect. “After assessing Jerry, we found that he was brain dead. It is a gut-wrenching task to break the news to the family,” said Easwer, head of neurosurgery at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST).
As Easwer broke the news to Jerry’s immediate family and relatives, Jerry’s mother said that she wanted to keep her son in the ventilator for two more days. “She said some miracle might happen. I briefed them on his condition. That’s when Jerry’s wife Lincy stepped in and said that Jerry always spoke about doing something good. And that the best way for their child to remember the father will be to see him live through the others,” he said, adding, in majority of cases, relatives of the brain dead have to be convinced to get their assent to donate the organs. Considering this, the stance taken by Jerry’s wife was commendable, Easwer said.
Health Minister Veena George praised Lincy for taking an exemplary stand and being a model for society. The liver and one of the kidneys of Jerry will be donated to two patients at KIMS-HEALTH and one kidney will be donated to a patient at the Medical College Hospital. The cornea is being given to two patients at the Thiruvananthapuram Government Eye Hospital.