No organ harvest 6 wks into 2026: 12-yr-old deceased donor’s parents send out appeal

Kolkata: The story of a 12-year-old deceased organ donor who gifted life to a liver failure patient last year is being harnessed to breathe fresh enthusiasm into Bengal's organ donation movement that is yet to get off the blocks this year after clocking 17 donations in 2025.Bengal Organ Donation Society (BODS) hopes that ‘Umang', a short film on the 12-year-old that it has prepared, will infuse momentum into the organ donation movement. Forty-eight days into 2026, there has not been a single organ donation in the state.
Kolkata's Umang Galada had become Bengal's youngest donor on May 20, 2025, when he was declared brain-dead after a renal transplant surgery. Suffering from end-stage renal failure, Umang neeeded a kidney transplant but there was none that matched his. Finally, mother Jyoti parted with a kidney. But the Class VII student died a few days after surgery.The 15-minute film, which BODS plans to screen at festivals and release on social media, tells the story of the boy who was full of life and known for his resilience, talent and strength. It brings out the courage of the mother, who turned personal tragedy into hope for others by consenting to donate Umang's liver and corneas, despite the fact that she was still in hospital recuperating from the kidney retrieval surgery."We lived the pain and agony of waiting for a matching organ. Only if all families of brain-dead patients come forward to donate, it could shorten the wait for those in need of organs. That is why we donated Umang's organs," recounted Jyoti, a resident of South City.Shot entirely in Umang's home, with parents Jyoti and Ujjawal and sister Niaina playing themselves, the film captures the struggle of an organ-failure patient, the courage of a living donor and the noblest act of organ donation. "My son lived a very small but meaningful life. While revisiting the whole episode during the film was painful, we are ready to go through this pain again and again to propel the organ donation pace," said Jyoti.RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences chipped in, and the entire hospital episode was shot there. Doctors including Vatsala Trivedi, Mahesh Goenka, KM Mandana and Saurabh Koley mentored for the film. "Umang's parents are turning their tragedy into a mission for a noble purpose, which is something praiseworthy," said GI critical care and liver transplant consultant Indrajeet Tiwary, who is chairman of Bengal Organ Donation Society.The organ donation movement picked up pace in Bengal in 2018. Since then, this has been the first time the state has not logged a single donation till Feb. Sources in Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation ROTTO (East) said there were at least three brain death declarations in the past 48 days. However, either the organs were unfit for transplant or families backed out of donating organs. "We are working hard and not giving up. We appeal to all hospitals not to miss brain-dead signs and to counsel families for donations," said a ROTTO source.Last year's 17 donations, the highest yet in Bengal, benefited over 50 patients.IPGMER-SSKM, which houses a state-of-the-art Trauma Care Centre, is the biggest source of deceased organs. It is also the only govt hospital in the state where organs from deceased are harvested. Some private hospitals perform the procedure, too. Health officials are hopeful that private hospitals and other tertiary care govt hospitals will be equal partners in the noble mission to accelerate the organ donation movement.