2 give new lease of life to 9 at PGI

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 15

Two families consented to donate organs of their departed dear ones, giving fresh lease of life to five terminally-ill patients and restoring the sight of four corneal blind patients.

In all, the donations have affected nine lives in the past two days at the PGIMER.

Active and soft spoken Satbir Kaur (37), a teacher with Gurukul School, Zirakpur, was admitted to Amcare Hospital, Zirakpur, following the onset of nausea and headache on April 13. “However, the destiny had something else in the offing and the best of the medical attention could not retrieve Satbir Kaur from that precarious condition. She was declared brain dead the same day in the hospital,” said the PGIMER spokesperson.

Braving the tragedy, the family expressed willingness to donate organs of the deceased. Immediately, Amcare Hospital contacted the PGIMER for the retrieval of organs and the deceased was shifted to the PGIMER. Nitish Sharma, husband of the deceased, consented for the noble cause, following which the liver, kidneys and cornea of the deceased were harvested for transplantation.

Having no matching recipient for the liver at the PGIMER, it was allocated to ILBS, New Delhi. The liver was sent to New Delhi via 3.25 pm flight on April 14 by creating a green corridor from the PGIMER to International Airport, Mohali. The harvested kidneys and corneas were transplanted to the matching recipients at the PGIMER only.

A day earlier, a family from Kurukshetra was confronted with the tragic and untimely death of a dear one. Jaswinder Singh (37) received head injuries in a road accident on April 10. First, he was rushed to a local hospital in Kurukshetra for initial treatment. Seeing no improvement in the condition, the family shifted him to the PGIMER on April 11. He was declared brain dead on April 12.

The family of Jaswinder Singh consented for organ donation. Following their consent, kidneys and corneas of the deceased were retrieved for matching recipients.

The retrieved organs and tissues of Satbir Kaur and Jaswinder Singh, through transplantation gave a new lease of life to five patients battling for survival and gave sight to another four, thereby impacting nine lives in all, including one in ILBS, New Delhi.

“My wife was a gem of a person. She was a picture of compassion and care. So her donating organs will be her final act of kindness,” said Nitish Sharma, husband of Satbir Kaur.

The same sentiment was echoed by courageous Kusum, wife of donor Jaswinder Singh, “Our pain and trauma is beyond words. With organ donation, at least I will be able to save someone else the pain and trauma of losing a loved one.”