Among the recipients were a person each in Mumbai and Delhi, and two at PGIMER Chandigarh.
A five-year-old girl, who was declared brain dead after falling from a height, gave a new lease of life to four patients after her parents decided to donate her organs.
Among the recipients were a person each in Mumbai and Delhi, and two at PGIMER Chandigarh.
“It's something no family should have to go through. We said 'yes' to organ donation because we knew this could help someone else and they wouldn't need to go through the heartache that we were going through. We knew it was the right thing to do," the girl's father said.
Prof Surjeet Singh, Director PGIMER, praised the girl's family, for the decision, saying such gestures bring a ray of hope to hundreds of patients.
“It is an extremely hard decision, but the donor families are a silver lining in the dark lives of organ failure patients. It is through their generous acts of organ donation that hundreds of people each year are given a second chance at life,” he said. According to the PGIMER statement here on Wednesday, on December 22, the girl fell unconscious due to a fall from a height and was rushed to a nearby civil hospital.
However, due to a worsening prognosis, the girl, who belongs to a hill state, was shifted to PGIMER in an extremely critical condition the same day.
"But all the efforts of the family and friends could not deter the dark tragedy as the little girl's week-long struggle between life and death came to a halt as she could not be revived and subsequently, after following the protocols as per Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 was declared brain dead," the statement said.
"When it became clear that the little girl would not come out of her precarious condition, the transplant coordinators at PGIMER approached the grief-stricken father, to request if he could consider organ donation. The resolute and braveheart father showcased immense grit and consented for organ donation," it said.
Dr. Vipin Koushal, Additional Medical Superintendent PGIMER and Nodal Officer, Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (North), said they retrieved the heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas.
"Once the donor organs became available, everyone swiftly got into action leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the donor's legacy continues."
"As the cross-matching indicated no matching recipient for heart and liver in PGIMER, we immediately got in touch with other transplant hospitals to explore options for matching recipients, and finally, the heart was allocated to a matching recipient admitted in a hospital in Mumbai and liver was allocated for another matching recipient in a hospital located in Delhi with the intervention of NOTTO,” he said. To ensure safe and speedy transport of the harvested organs, two such corridors were created in from PGIMER to the airport at Chandigarh on Tuesday for the transportation of retrieved heart and at 4.40 pm for the transportation of retrieved liver for the onward flight to Mumbai and Delhi.
“It was literally a race against time. We had to complete all the procedural formalities, harvesting process as well as transportation of the organs. But commendable efforts by PGIMER Security Department, Chandigarh & Mohali Police, CISF and Airport staff on duty that we accomplished in making it on time through the green corridor," Dr Kaushal said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)