Donors' kin get official recognition

MUMBAI: Anil Bujal (29), a construction worker, and Reena Jinde (26), an assistant engineer with a private company may have nothing in common, except for the fact that both lost their loved ones and decided to donate the organs after the brain deaths.The Bujals, Jindes and five other families were felicitated on the eve of Maharashtra Organ Donation Day by the state government and the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) on Saturday at the Hinduja Hospital.Six months ago, Vilas Bujal, a Vasai resident met with abike accident. His family took him to the hospital, but doctors realized thatVilas was brain dead. "The doctors told us that there was nothing that could bedone to save him. I discussed it with my family and decided to go ahead with thecadaver donation," said Anil, Vilas's brother. Ranjana, Vilas'swidow, says that initially she had doubts about donating the organs. "I didn'tknow as it was the right thing to do. After the doctors explained that manylives could be saved with this decision, I realized that we were actually doingsomething good," she said. Reena Jinde and her two sisters, on theother hand, couldn't understand what went wrong when their father suddenly had aparalysis attack in June 2010. The Powai residents took Laxman Jinde to a nearbyhospital. While, the doctors tried to treat him, he went into a coma and wasdeclared brain dead three days later. "When the doctors said myfather couldn't be saved, we decided to donate his organs. We didn't tell ourmother about it until all the formalities were completed," saidReena.Unlike the Jindes, the Galas had a tough time for bringingabout the cadaver donation. Suresh Gala (58) also suffered from a suddenparalytic attack, which led to a brain hemorrhage. "On January 2,2011, we took him to the hospital. But soon, he was declared brain dead and wasonly breathing through the ventilator," said Rekha, Suresh's widow. "We agreedto donate his organs, but my mother-in-law was reluctant initially. With thehelp of the doctors, we were able to get her approval too," she added.In order to help such families understand the importance of cadaverdonation, the Mumbai ZTCC is planning to start a crash course to train organtransplant coordinators. This is done in an attempt to revive the organtransplant in the 29 hospitals listed under the ZTCC."The numbersfor cadaver organ donation are not very encouraging. This could definitelyimprove with trained good coordinators who can counsel and convince thegrief-stricken family to make this emotional decision. Having a trainedco-ordinator on site will definitely boost the cadaver transplant donation,"said Dr Gustad Daver, president of ZTCC at Hinduja Hospital.