Brain-dead Surat man’s organs save three lives

Surat: A 54-year-old man, who was declared brain dead after suffering haemorrhage post an accident, gave a new lease of life to three persons by donating his organs here in the city on Saturday. This was the first cadaver donation after the second wave of the coronavirus gripped the city and the state.
Paresh Shah, a resident of Dayalji Park Apartment in Adajan of Surat, suffered a freak accident as he stumbled and fell while coming down the stairs of his office building near Majura gate on May 12. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was diagnosed with brain haemorrhage.
“Shah was working as a manager at city-based Bothra Finance Ltd. Considering the Covid-19 situation and his age, he was advised by his office to work from home. On May 12, he along with his wife went to the office to withdraw his salary and while returning he suffered an unfortunate accident.
“Shah was taken to a hospital where his CT Scans revealed that he had suffered brain haemorrhage and he was declared brain dead by a panel of experts the following day. When the hospital authorities informed us about the brain-dead patient we reached out to his kin and counselled them for cadaver donations,” says Nilesh Mandlewala, president of Donate Life, an NGO which works to encourage people for cadaver donations.
“Family members of late Paresh Shah agreed to donate his vital organs to save lives of others. After receiving consent for cadaver donations, we alerted the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) in Ahmedabad. SOTTO allotted Shah’s liver to Ahmedabad based CIMS hospital. Doctors said that two kidneys could not be donated as they were not fit for transplantations,” Mandlewala added.
A special 280 km green corridor was created from Surat to Ahmedabad’s CIMS hospital to transport harvested lungs. The two corneas were donated to Surat based Lok Drishti Eye bank.
“The family was ready to donate lungs and heart as well. SOTTO informed the Regional Organ Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) and apex body National Organ Tissue and Transplant Organisation (NOTTO). The lungs were allocated to a Hyderabad hospital and the heart was allocated to a Chennai hospital. But both the organs could not be harvested as no one from these two hospitals came to harvest it because of logistics issues,” Mandlewala said.
Paresh Shah was survived by his wife Padma, sons Devang and Paritosh.