She lost in BMC elections, but serves city in death through organ donation

Mumbai: Manisha Pawar (47) could not serve Mumbaikars as a corporator after losing as an independent candidate from Ward 197 in BMC elections earlier this year. But she has served the city in her death by donating her heart, liver and bones on Thursday.The Worli resident's heart was transported on Friday from SL Raheja Hospital in Mahim to Fortis Hospital in Mulund through a green corridor in 23 minutes. The recipient was a 39-year-old man from Buldhana whose heart had severely reduced pumping.This was the sixth heart transplant of the city; the fifth happened just days earlier, when a similar green corridor was created for the heart to be transported from Thane to Girgaon. A green corridor is a demarcated, cleared-out route designed for the transport of donated organs to reach the destination hospital without halts. A pilot vehicle is assigned by the police to lead the ambulance from the point of origin to the destination.Traffic chowkies along the route are alerted, and personnel are posted to clear vehicles just before the ambulance arrives. The control room monitors the route through surveillance footage in real time. Manisha's liver was transplanted into a 62-year-old man who was battling hepatic carcinoma with end-stage liver failure.Her husband, ‘Pappu' Prakash Pawar, said Manisha expressed the desire to donate organs out of the blue a few months ago. "The hospital further counselled us," he said.Pawar said both he and his wife wanted to serve the people through politics. "I was a gangster in the Arun Gawli gang earlier, and the first person to fight BMC elections from jail around 2008 on an MNS ticket. Manisha fought elections twice as an independent." The couple has two children, both in their 20s.