Parents donate 15-yr-old boy’s vital organs

BANGALORE: Fifteen-year-old Abhishek Manjunath died after he was run over by a multi-utility vehicle. But his father Manjunath L, an autorickshaw driver, has ensured that his son has breathed life into five people.
Following a decision taken by Manjunath, doctors at BGS Global Hospital on Friday harvested his son’s heart, liver, a kidney and both eyes which were transplanted into five individuals.
Abhishek was returning home from school when the four-wheeler hit him near Bidadi on Mysore Road on December 13. He was rushed to hospital with severe head injuries.
“His brain and a kidney were critically damaged. He was put in ICU. After about five days, he was declared brain dead. We then informed the Zonal Co-ordination Committee of Karnataka which counselled the parents to donate the boy’s organs. Abhishek’s parents readily agreed,” said Dr K N Prakash, deputy director (medical services), BGS Global Hospital.
“We felt no hesitation in donating our son’s organs. My wife, too, readily agreed to it, as by doing so we could see our son alive in five people,” said Manjunath.
Abhishek’s incident is the third such in less than a week. On Thursday, the family of a Rajasthani businessman got his organs harvested after he was declared brain dead in a city hospital. Earlier in the week, the vital organs of Swarna Jaswanth, who died after falling from the second floor of her college building, were donated by her parents.