Chandigarh, August 27
In a rare case, an Army jawan has given a fresh lease of life to three critically ill persons by donating the vital organs of his terminally ill wife. A multi-organ transplant procedure was carried out by doctors at the Army Hospital (Research and Referral), New Delhi yesterday.

Lance Naik G.S. Bisht of 26 Rashtriya Rifles consented to donate the liver and kidneys of his 26-year-old wife Leela Devi after doctors had pronounced her brain dead. She was suffering from brain tumour.

A combined team of over 40 doctors and para-medical staff from the Army RR Hospital and Base Hospital, Delhi, transplanted her liver into a serving soldier suffering from terminal cirrhosis due to Hepatitis B and one kidney into the 12-year daughter of a soldier who was suffering from end-stage kidney disease.

According to an official release, the deceased woman’s second kidney was handed over to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, where it was transplanted into a 45-year-old patient with chronic kidney failure.

Organ donation after brain death is rare in India. The armed forces had launched the Armed Forces Organ Retrieval and Transplantation Authority (AORTA) earlier this year to increase awareness on organ donation. Hundreds of serving personnel and their families have already pledged to donate their organs.