Heart sent from Gurugram to Delhi for transplant through green corridor on odd-even day

NEW DELHI: Heart harvested from a 43-year-old man at a Gurugram hospital was transported to another facility in Delhi through a 28-km green corridor in half-an-hour for a transplant surgery on Tuesday when odd-even traffic rule was in place in the capital, officials said.

The odd-even rule allowed ease in transport of organs, the hospital authorities said.

While the heart was sent from the Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) to the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI), liver and a kidney were sent to other hospitals in the National Capital Region.

Surgeons at FEHI were conducting the heart transplant on a 59-year-old man from Delhi, suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy, a Fortis spokesperson said.

"The donor, declared brain dead, was a male patient suffering from brain stem bleeding. His heart was sent for the recipient at FEHI through a 28-km green corridor from FMRI in 31 minutes," the spokesperson said.

While one of the kidneys was kept by Fortis hospital in Gurugram, the other was sent to Apollo Hospital here, she said. "The liver was sent to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram."

Waitlisted for over a year, the recipient's condition was deteriorating rapidly and a heart transplant was essential to save his life, Fortis hospital authorities said.

"The 43-year-old man's family consented to donate his heart, liver, kidneys saving the lives of four recipients," the spokesperson said.

"This is an extremely intricate process, which involves coordination and synchronisation with different stakeholders," FMRI zonal director Ritu Garg said.

"We received support from NOTTO (National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation), our clinicians and nursing staff, the police and traffic authorities, who play an imperative role in making each transplant successful," Garg said.