87-year-old’s kin donate his skin to Mumbai burns hospital after his death

Relatives of an 87-year-old Vasai resident donated his skin to a hospital that treats burn injuries after he died of natural causes on Friday.

The deceased, Atmaram Yeshwant Vartak, was a resident of Umela village in Vasai. Vartak’s son Manish Vartak, who is a corporator in the Vasai civic body, said his father had written a letter addressed to his family that he wished to donate his organs for a social cause. “So we contacted Purshottam Patil-Pawar, who runs the Bapusaheb Patil-Pawar Charitable Trust that runs the Deh Mukti Mission, which encourages organ donation,” said Manish.

“Skin donations help burn victims and have increased in recent times,” said Patil-Pawar. The skin was donated to the skin bank of Masina Burns Hospital, Byculla. “Only the skin from the toe to the thigh area is harvested while the rest are left intact. There is lot of misconception that during skin donation, the entire skin of the human body is donated,” said Patil-Pawar. “Only the first layer of the skin is donated as there are seven deep layers of skin in the human body, and only the thinnest first layer is taken and stored in the skin bank,” he said.

Patil-Pawar said at least three to four people would benefit from Vartak’s skin donation, adding that the 87-year-old had set an example to others.