CHANDIGARH: At 11 months, a baby from Sector 45, Chandigarh became the youngest donor in the transplant history of PGIMER . Hanging on to compassion in the midst of crushing grief, the infant’s parents got his kidneys transplanted to a terminally ill renal failure patient in PGI. This made the baby the youngest donor since the cadaver renal transplant programme was initiated in 1996.Even though the first priority was pediatric recipients, the cross match identified an adult recipient. So both kidneys were transplanted to the same patient in view of his age. Prof Ashish Sharma, head of the department of renal transplant surgery, PGIMER, said the procedure was a challenge for both the doctors and the child’s family. “The case had challenges. According to organ donation norms for babies under the age of one, two confirmatory tests to declare a baby brain dead must be conducted with a gap of 24 hours. It was a herculean task for pediatricians and intensivists to maintain the donor infant through the time gap. Also, the retrieval process of kidneys demanded extreme deftness and skill to accomplish it successfully. The transplant also had its difficulties as the best matched recipient was an adult. Therefore, both kidneys had to be transplanted into one recipient. It was the determination of the donor family that pushed us to make it happen,” he said.The baby’s parents are struggling to pick up the pieces but they derive some comfort from the fact that their child has given someone life in death . “Incessant attempts to revive the baby proved futile, as our child, Pritam remained on ventilator. Finally, when doctors called me and my wife Geeta, we knew it was terrible news. We can’t blame anyone but destiny. But we are happy that someone’s life was saved,” said Lakshman, the baby’s father.On July 6, the boy rolled over and fell off the bed. He fell unconcious due to a serious head injury. The family rushed him to Government Medical College, Sector 32, Chandigarh, from where the case was referred to PGI. The infant was shifted to PGI the same day.The staff at PGI felt the parents’ pain all through. PGI director Prof Jagat Ram said, “The latest case of cadaver organ donation is an epitome of humanity and self-sacrifice. The donor family is originally from Nepal and they were resolute to see the transplant through, braving the loss of their little baby who was yet to celebrate his first birthday.”

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