Kerala’s first air-assisted heart transplant patient dies

Thrissur: Mathew Achadan, Kerala's first air ambulance-assisted heart transplant patient, passed away at his house in Chalakudy on Monday, 10 years after the landmark surgery. Achadan, 57, was working as an autorickshaw driver till a couple of days back. The donated heart belonged to Neelakanda Sharma, a lawyer from Thiruvananthapuram, who was declared brain-dead in 2015 while undergoing treatment at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences in Thiruvananthapuram, following a fall in the bathroom. The heart was transported from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi, in a Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy. Back then, Achadan was undergoing treatment at Lissie Hospital in Kochi for dilated cardiomyopathy and the doctors there decided that heart transplant was the only option to save his life. When the family of Sharma showed willingness to donate his heart, the next challenge was transporting it to Kochi. The doctors had only a window of four hours for harvesting the heart from the donor, transporting it and implanting it in the recipient. So, transporting the heart by road was not at all feasible. The Navy agreed to airlift the heart from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi following the intervention of the govt led by late CM Oommen Chandy. The surgery, conducted by the team of doctors led by Dr Jose Chacko Periappuram was successful. Achadan was on regular follow-up and was keeping well, the hospital sources said. He had undergone check-ups even last month and all his parameters were fine, Dr Periappuram told TOI. "We don't know what went wrong. There are possibilities of diminishing chances of survival as the years pass by. But that he could lead a quality life for a span of ten years is certainly gratifying," he said. This successful transplantation was also a testimony to the secular moorings of the state, apart from its progress in the medical field. While Sharma's family was praying to Swami Ayyappan when the surgeries were going on, Achadan's family offered prayers to Jesus Christ. Moreover, the expenses for treatment of Achadan, who came from a poor background, was met by a Muslim — the head of the Eram Group of companies, Dr Siddeek Ahmed, Dr Periappuram said. Achadan's successful transplant proved as an inspiration for many to donate organs. Post his surgery, eight heart transplants, which relied on air ambulances, were conducted in the state, said Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (K-Sotto) executive director Dr Noble Gracious. Currently, 16 hospitals, including four from the public sector, in the state have been granted permission to carry out organ transplants. The transportation of harvested organs to the centre where the recipient is being treated is done by the govt free of cost, Dr Gracious added. Achadan is survived by his wife Bindu, and children Amal and Anna, both of whom are settled abroad. The body is being kept in the mortuary of the St James Hospital, Chalakudy, and the last rites will be performed after the children return.