SURAT: On 17 December, organs of a 2-and-a-half-year-old, Jash Oza, a resident of Bhatar area of Surat, gave new lives to at least five people. The deceased toddler fell from the second-floor balcony of his neighbour’s flat on 9 December and was subsequently admitted to Amrita Hospital where he was treated for a few days until doctors declared him brain dead on 14 December. He, according to the medical reports, suffered brain haemorrhage and swelling.
The parents of the child—Sanjeev and Archana—were convinced by Nilesh Mandlewala, a president of Surat-based NGO ‘Donate Life’, to donate the organs of the deceased.
Heart and lungs of the child, it is learnt, were taken from the hospital to Surat Airport through an ambulance. Thereafter, they covered a distance of 1,615-odd km to MGM Hospital, Chennai, in 160 minutes via air ambulance. While the heart was transplanted to a four-year-old Russian boy, the lungs were transplanted to a Ukrainian boy who was also four years old.
One of the kidneys was transplanted to a 13-year-old girl from Surendranagar, Gujarat, and another was transplanted to a 17-year-old girl from Surat via Ahmedabad-based Institute of Kidney Disease and Research Centre (IKDRC). The liver of the child was also transplanted to a 2-year-old, who was under treatment at the same institute. The corneas were donated to Lok Drasti Chaksu bank of the city.
Mandlewala said that it was difficult to find the recipients because Jash had B-positive blood group. He also informed how 30 hearts, 10 lungs, 373 kidneys, and 152 liver of brain dead persons were donated through Donate Life, giving new lives to 781 people.
