NEW DELHI: Her organs helped save three lives: a five-month-old toddler who received the heart, a nine-month-old child who received the liver and a 34-year-old man who got a new lease of life after being donated both her kidneys. Their saviour was Dhanishtha, at 20 months old one of the youngest-ever cadaver/ deceased donors in India.
The girl was playing on the balcony of her house in Rohini in north-west Delhi on January 8 when she fell and sustained serious brain injury. She was taken to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, but despite all efforts, the doctors couldn’t save her. The child was declared brain dead on January 11.
‘Decided to keep our child alive in people she saved’
When informed, Dhanishtha’s father, Ashish Kumar, an employee of a private bank, decided her organs could help save the lives of others. Kumar said he had lost his child, but by donating her organs he could keep her alive in the person whose life she would have saved. Paediatric organ donation is rare because of grief and religious beliefs.
Kumar, 39, told TOI that in the three days that he was in the ICU praying for his daughter’s recovery, he saw many children suffering, some of them due to organ failure. When told by doctors that his daughter was brain dead, he asked them if her organs could be used to save someone. “I consulted my wife and my father too, and they agreed readily,” Kumar said. “We didn’t even consider what others might say about our decision but went ahead with it.”
Dr D S Rana, chairman of SGRH, said the noble act of the girl’s family was praiseworthy and should motivate others to donate their organs.
Dhanishtha’s heart went to a five-month-old baby suffering from heart failure. Her liver was grafted into a nine-monthold baby suffering from biliary atresia, a congenital disorder that causes liver failure in newborns. Dr V Pamecha of Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, where the liver transplant was carried out, said the organ donation came at an opportune time and helped save the life of the baby who would otherwise have died.
The kidneys were used enbloc in a 34-year-old man at SGRH itself. “A 20-month-old child’s kidney is very small, nearly one-fifth the size of an adult kidney. One kidney couldn’t have sustained the workload,” explained Dr Sudhir Chadha, director and kidney transplant surgeon, SGRH. “Therefore, we decided to use both her kidneys en bloc during the kidney transplant. The patient is doing well.”
Impressed with the Kumar family’s gesture, Dr Harsh Jauhari, chairman, renal transplant, SGRH, said, “Paediatric cadaver donation is uncommon and requires humongous courage to overcome the grief and emotional trauma caused by the loss of a small child.”
Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, confirmed the rarity of the act. He said his institution had received three paediatric cadaver donations in 22 years. “It is extremely rare in India. Salute to the girl’s parents.”