Pics: Ramesh Pandith
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru, Feb 21: In a first, a cadaver heart donation was made at the city's AJ Hospital and Research Centre on Tuesday February 21. The heart and other organs were taken through zero traffic to Mangaluru airport late evening, from where they were flown to Bengaluru.

The organs including the heart belonged to Sathish (27), who met with a road accident at around 10 pm on February 18 near Karkala bypass. Initially he was taken to a private hospital in Karkala after first-aid, was shifted to Mangaluru, and admitted to AJ Hospital on February 19. He had suffered grievous injuries, and on February 20, he was declared brain-dead.

Sathish, hailing from Padumarnadu, Moodbidri, was the son of Raghava Achar, a carpenter by profession, and Sulochana. He has two brothers Rajesh, a carpenter, and Mukesh, a gold smith. Sathish too was a carpenter.

After Sathish was declared brain-dead, the family offered to donate his organs, and their wish was immediately conveyed to the Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka (ZCCK) for transplantation, which in turn activated the retrieval team and the recepient list for the organs. After necessary legal clearances, the team came from Bengaluru to retrieve the organs.

For the time, a deceased patient's heart was retrieved at AJ Hospital and was taken to MS Ramaiah Hospital, Bengaluru. Sathish's liver will be taken to Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru, and one kidney will be handed over to KMC, Manipal, while the other kidney would be transplanted at AJ Hospital.