1st deceased donor kidney transplant done at AIIMS-N

Nagpur: A 48-year-old woman, who died of brain stroke on May 9, saved the lives of three persons who received her donated liver and kidneys on May 11.
Seema Surendra Waghmare, a resident of Nara Basti in Jaripatka, suffered brain stroke on May 3 and was admitted to CIIMS Hospital. During treatment, she suffered another brain stroke on May 6 and was declared brain dead on May 9.

Neurologist Dr Dinesh Kabra, and coordinator of Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) Nagpur Veena Wathore, counselled her husband Surendra and daughters Tanaya (12) and Janhavi (10) to consider organ donation.
“My wife was a kind and compassionate person who always cared for others, and we decided to honour her memory by donating her organs to make a difference in the lives of those in need,” said Surendra.
The family had agreed to donate all possible organs including heart, lungs, and pancreas. ZTCC sent alerts for heart, lungs, and pancreas to the west region, which covers five states. Unfortunately, they could not find suitable recipients. As AIIMS Nagpur now has all facilities of organ retrieval as well as organ transplant, the ZTCC requested the institute to retrieve the organs. Her body was shifted to AIIMS on May 9, the day on which the hospital conducted its first live donor kidney transplant.
A day after conducting its first live donor kidney transplant, AIIMS Nagpur also conducted a retrieval and transplant from a deceased organ donor. This is the first organ retrieval and transplant that has happened at AIIMS Nagpur, which is a big step, said Dr Rahul Saxena, secretary of ZTCC Nagpur.
“A donation coming from a government hospital and starting with kidney transplants there is indeed a big achievement for all of us and a big service to the society,” he said.
ZTCC president Dr Sanjay Kolte, a transplant surgeon who conducted the retrieval and transplant at AIIMS, said ZTCC and AIIMS have created history. “AIIMS Nagpur conducted two kidney transplants in the last two days. It also performed first live kidney transplant and first organ retrieval and transplant within 36 hours,” he said.
This was the 10th deceased organ donation of 2023 coordinated by ZTCC. Dr Kolte said awareness about the noble cause of organ donation has increased in common people due to which more families are coming forward for this task.