Lucknow, Nov 6 (IANS): A poor farmer from the Amethi district got a free liver transplant after the department of surgical gastroenterology at King George's Medical University (KGMU) here played good samaritan for him.

Gyanendra Pratap Singh, 41, was suffering from liver cirrhosis, and the prognosis was not favourable without a transplant, the doctors had opined.

Singh's wife Vandana, 39, decided to donate a part of her organ, the department helped the patient in applying and procuring financial assistance under the Chief Minister's Asadhya Rog Yojana.

A liver transplant costs around Rs 30 lakh at a private hospital, while the expenses at KGMU are said to be around Rs 8 lakh.

The head of department, Prof Abhijit Chandra, who led the team of surgeons comprising Dr Vivek Gupta, Dr Vishal Gupta and Dr Pradeep Joshi, said that the surgery procedure took about 12 hours.

Both, the donor and recipient are now doing fine, he said.

This has been the eighth liver transplant at KGMU since March 2017.