19-year-old Pakistani girl gets a new lease of life with an ‘Indian’ heart

Chandigarh, April 25

A 19-year-old girl from Pakistan, Ayesha Rashan, waited for five years with an heart ailment, before she was recently given the heart of a 69-year-old brain-dead patient, flown from a hospital in Delhi, at Chennai-based M3M Healthcare.

According to a TOI report, Ayesha first came to India in 2019 when she suffered a cardiac arrest and went into heart failure. Senior cardiac surgeon Dr KR Balakrishnan, who was then at Malar Hospital in Adyar, suggested a heart transplant, and she was waitlisted on the state organ registry.

Considering her condition, the doctors gave her a left ventricular assist device, following which she flew back home. But in 2023, the right side of her heart also failed, and she got an infection, as per the report.

Ultimately, with the help of a fund pool and doctors’ assistance, Ayesha underwent a successful heart transplant surgery. “I can breathe easy now,” she told TOI. “I am planning to complete my schooling in Karachi. I want to become a fashion designer.”