Kolkata doctors turn grief into hope as two donors donate livers and kidneys for five Indians

In two poignant instances of humanity and kindness, they helped facilitate the process for the families of two individuals decided to donate organs of their loved ones, providing five others with a second lease of life

Two days, two organ donations: Kolkata doctors turn grief into hope for five Indians

Image for representational purpose only. Photo Courtesy: istock

Within a course of just two days, doctors at a hospital in Kolkata have helped give a new lease of life through two timely organ donations.

In two poignant instances of humanity and kindness, Manipal Hospital EM Bypass helped facilitate the process for the families of two individuals decided to donate organs of their loved ones, providing five others with a second lease of life.

The first case involved Dr Sanchita Bakshi (76), retired director of Health Services, Government of West Bengal, who continued her life-long passion for public health even beyond her death. Dr Bakshi was one of the most prolific contributors to many state health programs in her professional life. Following an intracerebral hemorrhage and being declared brain-dead at the hospital, her family fulfilled her wishes by contributing her organs.

Her liver was transplanted into a 48-year-old male at IPGMER, whereas her kidneys were transplanted into a 49-year-old female at RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences.

Her corneas were also stored. ROTTO (East) organised the retrieval and transplant operations. Interestingly, Dr Bakshi is the most senior deceased donor in ROTTO (East)'s database, and this is the 14th deceased organ donation in Bengal this year.

The second act of kindness was just a day after the first, when the family of a 65-year-old man, also a resident of Kolkata, who had been taken to the hospital following a fall and subsequent vomiting of blood, chose to donate his organs after he was diagnosed as brain-dead.

His liver was transplanted to a 50-year-old at Apollo Multispecialty Hospital, while one kidney was transplanted into 43-year-old male at RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences and the other into a 54-year-old female at Manipal Hospital Mukundapur.

Their altruistic gesture again underlined how organ donation converts tears of sorrow to rays of hope for several families.

Commenting on the two successive donations, Dr Tanmay Banerjee, director and HOD, Critical Care, at the hospital said, "These back-to-back donations bring to our notice the invaluable importance of organ donation in terms of saving lives. An important aspect of this process is preserving the donor's body prior to retrieval. Supporting circulation, ventilation, and organ function in a brain-dead donor requires advanced medical equipment, continuous monitoring, and highly skilled manpower working round the clock. Every hour of preservation calls for a coordinated and meticulous approach to keeping the organs viable. This effort gives several patients a renewed chance of life. Families who consent to organ donation during such difficult times make this gesture a gift beyond measure.”

To this, Dr Ayanabh Debgupta, regional chief operating officer, Manipal Hospitals East, added, "Our programme, MOST – Manipal Organ Sharing & Transplant, is critical in enabling the sharing of organs between the Manipal network so that no organ is wasted and every chance to save a life is optimised. These two cases are reminders of what can be achieved through cooperation between families, hospitals and organizations.”