Organ donor families & Transplant Patients narrates life changing stories
Pune 18 September 2018 : A young girl was in a state of shock when a normal day turned into the worst in no time when her father fell in the bathroom & was quickly shifted to the hospital. In less than seven hours, he was in the ICU battling for life & death later declared brain dead. Understandably the girl and her family were in a state of extreme shock. However, with the help of counselling from medical social workers, his family decided to donate his organs and give life to the needy ones.
Hepatobilliary and Liver Transplant surgeon at Sahyadri Hospitals Dr Bipin Vibhute said “we salute such families who decided to do the noble gesture even in testing times”. He was speaking at a special function organised by Sahyadri Hospitals to mark 100 liver transplants in just 2.5 years. The program was organised to salute the donor families for their gesture. Chief Medical Assistant Officer at PMC Dr Anjali Sabne, Dr Ketan Apte Unit Head Sahyadri Hospitals Deccan, Nagar Road and Hadapsar, Group COO Dr Sunil Rao, Medical Social Worker Sharmila Padhye was present on the occasion.
While recalling that day the girl couldn’t hold back and was full of tears, but on the other hand she was feeling proud that her dear father did give a new life to somebody in need and was thankful to Sahyadri Hospital staff for helping her arrive at this decision.
Dr Vibhute and his team at Sahyadri Hospitals has seen both the sorrow of the patient relatives after their near and dear one has been declared brain dead, their noble gesture with consent for organ donation and a sense of Pride that follows and on the other hand the happiness of transplant patient relatives as the patient gets a new life. A young boy who is studying in 12th standard got up and said Dr Vibhute does not pick up my calls. This was not a complaint against the doctor but a sense of connectedness that the boy had developed as Dr Vibhute cured him of a complicated liver ailment. The boy is from Sangli district from where Dr Vibhute hails. The boy’s parents had met Dr Vibhute in Mumbai and pleaded him to look at their son. Dr Vibhute said when his parents met him, i felt i should see the boy. The family did not have money but that’s not the issue at Sahyadri as we found a way to fund his treatments. The boy then said that I will now join ITI course much to the applause of everybody present.
Likewise a lot of donor relatives and transplant patients narrated their heart warming and inspiring stories. A Pune based female who never thought she would recover from a liver disease cannot believe she is up and well into her new life. She is penning her story into a book. Dr Vibhute said that there are many misconceptions about transplants and the life thereafter, but one can lead a normal and healthy life after liver transplant. All the families were of the opinion that Sahyadri Hospital staffs were a bridge between the two and have guided them with legal and formal procedures. Today the donor families feel proud of their decision and satisfied that their near and dear one is still around there. As Dr Anjali Sabne puts it, “donation has been there in Indian tradition and we should carry forward the good deeds with Blood and Organ Donation which are the most noble of gestures”.
