Tragic accident to noble deed; Arjun bids adieu after giving new life to four people

KANNUR: The organs of Arjun, a 22-year-old native of Valakkai, Kannur, who was declared brain dead in a road accident, have been donated to four people. Arjun’s heart, kidney and liver will now live through four people. The heart, which was brought from Kannur to Aster Medcity in Kochi by air ambulance, started beating again in a 48-year-old native of Malappuram. This is the first heart transplant surgery at Aster Medcity.

Arjun, son of M.K. Ganesan and Thankamani, was admitted to Aster MIMS Hospital in Kannur with serious injuries after a tipper lorry rammed into his bike. However, Arjun succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

The organ transplant process was coordinated through the Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (K-SOTO), the state government's organ donation agency. Arjun's heart was airlifted from Kannur to the helipad at Aster in an air ambulance. Within two minutes of landing, the heart was taken to the operating theatre and the surgery began. The 48-year-old, a native of Malappuram, was brought to Aster with a completely dysfunctional heart. He was being kept alive with the help of blood pressure-stabilising drugs and an intra-aortic balloon pump. Doctors finalised a heart transplant as the only option to keep the patient alive.

One of Arjun's kidneys will be donated to a patient at Aster MIMS, Kannur. The second kidney was taken to Kozhikode Govt. Medical College and the liver to Kozhikode Baby Memorial Hospital.

Arjun's final rites were held at the Chegala Panchayat crematorium. Arya is Arjun's sister.