Sachin Krishnan’s memory will now live through those who receive his organs.
The 20-year-old was admitted to the emergency trauma care at Sunrise Hospital on August 1 but was declared brain dead on Wednesday morning. His eyes, hands, kidneys, and liver were donated by his family.
“The Kerala Network for Organ Sharing (KNOS) facilitated the donation after a medical officer certified the brain death,” said KNOS Nodal Officer Dr. Noble Gracious. “The donation was among the few this year. The case had come up after a long gap,” he added.
Following the High Court directive to the government to make brain death declaration beyond doubt, there had been a lull in organ donations.
The last instance of organ donation in the State was in June. The number of deceased donors this year, including Sachin, has touched 12. It has been a lean year for organ donation.
In the light of the High Court order, the government has been training medical officers in brain death declaration. Accordingly, a chart is prepared every day at hospitals for doctors to take up duty whenever required. “We have trained medical officers in all districts, and the whole process has to be video-recorded,” said Dr. Gracious.
Son of K.S. Radhakrishnan Nair and Baby Girija of Koothatukulam, Sachin was a final year B.Com student of Rajagiri College, Kalamassery.
One of the donated kidneys went to a 50-year-old patient at Sunrise Hospital, and the other was donated to a patient at Medical Trust Hospital.
The liver was given to a patient at Lakeshore Hospital and hands were donated to a girl at Amrita Hospital. “There were no takers for the heart, though there was a patient in Kozhikode. The hospital could not arrange the logistics,” said Dr. Gracious.