Brain dead person's organs give second chance in life to others; Selvin will live on in six people

KOCHI: The heart of Selvin Shekhar (36), a resident of Vilavancode, Kanyakumari, who suffered brain death, has started beating in Harinarayanan (16), a resident of Kayamkulam. The 37-year-old native of Thiruvananthapuram who received a kidney and pancreas is also recovering.

By donating heart, kidneys, eyes and pancreas, Selvin gave new life to six people. The surgery of Harinarayanan and native of Thiruvananthapuram was done at Lisie and Aster Medcity Hospitals in Kochi. One kidney was donated to a patient at KIMS Hospital and eyes to two patients at Thiruvananthapuram Eye Hospital.

The organs were brought from Thiruvananthapuram's KIMS Hospital at 11.09 am yesterday in a government-funded helicopter to the Grand Hyatt Helipad in Bolgatti, Kochi, and from there to Lisie and Aster Medcity Hospitals. Selvin's family agreed to organ donation after he suffered a brain hemorrhage and became brain-dead on Friday. The Chief Minister took immediate action during the Navakerala Sadas to facilitate organ donation at the request of the hospital authorities.

Selvin, who was a staff nurse in Tamil Nadu, sought treatment there and later at KIMS on November 21 due to a headache and was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage. His wife Geeta is also a nurse.

At 11.10 am, the heart was brought to Lisie Hospital within three minutes from the helipad through the green corridor prepared by the police. The heart transplant surgery started immediately under the leadership of Dr Jose Chacko Periappuram and was completed at 3.45pm.

Dr. Jacob Abraham, Dr. Bhaskar Ranganathan, Dr. Ronnie Mathew, Dr. Jeevesh Thomas, Dr. Joe Joseph, Dr. P Murugan, Dr. Job Wilson, Dr. Grace Maria, Dr. Antony, Subhashini, Raji Ramesh, Sister Agna Maria, Levin Antony, Jisha George and others participated in the surgery.

Two years ago

Two years ago, Harinarayan's elder brother Suryanarayan also underwent a heart transplant at the Lisie Hospital. 21-year-old Suryanarayan is now healthy. Both had dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart enlarges rapidly. The parents are Satish and Bindu.

The Thiruvananthapuram native, who received kidney and pancreas, was being treated for diabetes and severe kidney disease. The surgery was completed at Medcity by 6 pm. Dr. Mathew Jacob, Dr. M. Sudhir Muhammad, Dr. Vivek Rajendran, Dr. M.K. Rama Prasad led the surgery.

"Gratitude to Selvin's wife Geeta, who is also a staff nurse, who came forward for organ donation. The helicopter was used on the instructions of the Chief Minister.

Veena George, Health Minister