Transportation of heart through Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) for a transplant surgery on February 2 has garnered international attention. HMR managing director N.V.S. Reddy said he has received calls from several countries in Europe, the Gulf and the US asking about the details.
Usually, organs are transported through roadways by clearing traffic and creating a green channel. However, on February 2 afternoon, HMR arranged a special train for non-stop transportation of heart from Nagole to Jubilee Hills.
The special train paced through a stretch of 21 km crossing 16 stations in less than 30 minutes.
An ambulance was kept ready at Jubilee Hills to rush the beating heart to the hospital where transplantation was taken up.
The organ was harvested from a 45-year-old male farmer from Aregudem in Nalgonda district who was admitted at Kamineni Hospital, L.B. Nagar. The recipient was a 44-year-old male cardiac patient at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills,who suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy and oblivious to how he got the organ, until Sunday night.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Apollo Hospitals on Monday, the recipient said before undergoing the procedure, he suffered from breathlessness, had sleepless nights and had given up hope of survival. Around 12 days after the transplantation, the patient was ready to walk to home. He expressed gratitude to the donor’s family, doctors and Hyderabad Metro Rail officials.
A.G.K. Gokhale, senior consultant, Heart and Lung Transplant Surgeon at Apollo Hospitals, said the idea of using metro rail came up since organ transportation would have taken longer by road and there are no helicopters to be used for the purpose. The team of doctors said every second was important to save the patient’s life.
The hospital management coordinated with Hyderabad Metro Rail authorities and Hyderabad traffic police to pull off the first-of-its-kind green channel.
K. Hari Prasad, president of Apollo Hospital Group, detailed the role that all the parties played and attributed the surgery success to the crucial decision taken by the donor’s family, Hyderabad Metro Rail which dedicated a special train, police for establishing a green channel, Dr Gokhale and his team, and the State government’s cadaver transplantation programme, Jeevandan. Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Kumar was present at the press meet.