Heart from Surat in 84 minutes

A 42-year-old man, Srikanth Patil from Mumbai, got a new lease of life when the family of a brain-dead person from Gujarat agreed to donate the man’s heart on Wednesday. The transport of the donor heart between the two states was completed in 1 hour, 24 minutes through the green corridor. This is the seventh heart transplant that the city witnessed so far and second heart donation from Gujarat.

The recipient was suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy and he was in the waiting listed for a transplant for over three months. But his life was finally saved when the family of Himarbhai Savaliya, 52-year-old, a retired former diamond worker from Gujarat agreed to donate his heart.

Talking to The Asian Age on the phone from Surat, Nilesh Mandlewala, president of Donate Life, an NGO that coordinated the donation, said, “On January 17, Savaliya suddenly complained of stomach ache and started vomiting. Later he was diagnosed with brain haemorrhage and was declared dead on January 19.”

“The family has saved three lives by donating the heart and kidneys of the deceased,” he added.

The traffic and airport authority immediately laid down the roadmap and flight map. The donor heart left from Ayush ICU and Multispecialty Hospital, Surat to Fortis Hospital, Mulund in Mumbai at 2.50am. The heart reached the Surat Airport at 3.04 am. The donor heart was immediately transferred into a chartered flight that took off at 3.18 am, landing at Mumbai’s Domestic Airport at 3.55 am. The ambulance left from the Domestic Airport at 3.57 am. The preserved heart reached Fortis Hospital, Mulund at 4.11 am and the transplant surgery commenced at 4.14 am.

Dr Anvay Mulay, chief of cardiac surgery, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, who conducted the surgery said, “The surgery was successful and the patient is now stable. He’s been moved to the ICU and will be kept under observation for the next 48-72 hours.”