3 months left, Kol crosses 2024 organ donation count

Kolkata: In back-to-back organ donations in the city, two kidneys and the liver of a deceased former merchant navy officer were transplanted into three patients late on Monday night. Sources said all three transplant patients were recuperating well. With this 15th donation in the state this year, the figure has already surpassed the 2024 mark when the state logged 14 donations.The latest donation took place when family members of Subrata Bhattacharya decided to donate his organs after the 65-year-old was declared brain dead at Medica Hospital. The Naktala resident was rushed to the hospital on Sept 10, following a fall at home and subsequent vomiting of blood. At the hospital, doctors noticed signs of irreversible brain death and informed the family. His two sons, Soumit and Souvir, consented to the donation of organs."My mother also suffered a similar brain death a few years ago. So we knew the concept of brain death and understood that we would not get him back by keeping him in ventilation support, and it would also be a torture to my father. It was better to let him go and gift a second life to a few battling organ failure. And this was also what our Baba wanted, who always extended a helping hand to those in need when he was alive," said son Souvir.The doctors found the donor's kidneys and liver viable for transplant. ROTTO (East) allocated the liver to Apollo Multispecialty Hospital while the kidneys were allocated to RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) and Manipal Hospital, Mukundapur."Our kidney recipient is a 43-year-old from Howrah. This is his second transplant. With this, we have done 15 deceased donor transplants this year," said nephrologist Pratik Das, whose team conducted the surgery at RTIICS.On Sunday, the family of former DHS Sanchita Baksi donated her organs after her death at Manipal EM Bypass. "Manipal Hospitals have a strong commitment to strengthening organ donation infrastructure. Our programme ‘MOST' (Manipal Organ Sharing & Transplant) is critical in enabling the sharing of organs between the Manipal network so that no organ is wasted and every chance to save a life is optimised. These two cases are reminders of what can be achieved through cooperation between families, hospitals, and organisations," said Ayanabh Debgupta, regional chief operating officer, Manipal Hospitals East.Tanmay Banerjee, director and HoD (critical care) of Manipal Hospital EM Bypass, said: "These back-to-back donations bring to our notice the invaluable importance of organ donation in terms of saving lives. Families who consent to organ donation during such difficult times make this gesture a gift beyond measure."