Back in March, when Jaison Crasto, 28, first had shortness of breath and a cough, he had no idea that he would need a heart transplant. But after just 15 days of being told that he would need it, he got a surprise when he was told that a heart was waiting for him, as the doctors at Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital were preparing for the first inter-district heart transplant surgery.

Crasto was working on a passenger cruise ship docked near Los Angeles, when he noticed the symptoms. To make matters worse, he took the advice of one of the doctors on the ship and drank 2-3 litres of water a day, which increased his breathing troubles. "I put on 10 kgs. I went to another doctor who told me that there was fluid build-up in the abdomen. They gave me a diuretic (to increase production of urine) and I was able to pass more than 15 litres of urine within two hours and finally able to breathe," he said.