5 yrs after transplant, a union of hearts at city hosp

  • | Tuesday | 14th August, 2018

“Organ donation and transplant need to be promoted in a big way, for it gives a new lease of life to many of us. The organ donation and transplantation programme, which was at its peak in 2016, saw just 18 cases in 2017 and only two in 2018. Thanks to Lisie Hospital’s initiative to celebrate Sruthi’s fifth birthday with a new heart,” said another sister Lillykutty.“If she didn’t have the heart transplant, she wouldn’t have survived even three months. I hope there are many more good souls like Lalichan’s family who come forward to donate their deceased member’s organs,” said Sruthi. But now we are 14 as after my brother’s death, he continues to live through seven people to whom we donated his organs.

KOCHI: Five years after their youngest brother died in a road accident, his three sisters were anxious to meet Sruthi Sasi (29) on Monday to hug her tight so that they could hear their brother’s heart beating in her body.It was on this day in 2013 that they decided to donate the organs of their brother, Joseph Mathew aka Lalichan (43), after he was declared brain dead by the doctors of Kottayam Medical College. “We are seven siblings. But now we are 14 as after my brother’s death, he continues to live through seven people to whom we donated his organs. Organ donation and transplant should be promoted as it ensures that the person you loved and lost, lives through someone else,” said his sister Elsama James from Changanassery “I was eager to meet Sruthi and once again hear my brother’s heartbeat. Even after five years of his death, his heart beats in Sruthi. Thanks to Lisie Hospital’s initiative to celebrate Sruthi’s fifth birthday with a new heart,” said another sister Lillykutty.“If she didn’t have the heart transplant, she wouldn’t have survived even three months. She was bedridden by the time she came to us,” said Lisie Hospital’s cardiac surgeon Dr Jose Chacko Periappuram.Sruthi is among the few in Kerala who have successfully finished five years with a new donor heart. “Organ donation and transplant need to be promoted in a big way, for it gives a new lease of life to many of us. I hope there are many more good souls like Lalichan’s family who come forward to donate their deceased member’s organs,” said Sruthi. After the heart transplant, she has been living a normal life and now works as a lab technician at Mulanthuruthy since last two years.Another person Gireesh V S, who had a heart transplant three years ago at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences said, “Organ donation is one of the purest things as you are giving hope to a person that he may live to see another day with a new heart,” said Gireesh, who now works as a security staff.The cadaver organ donation programme of the state government suffered a major setback due to negative publicity. The organ donation and transplantation programme, which was at its peak in 2016, saw just 18 cases in 2017 and only two in 2018.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

NYOOOZ FRIEND

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.


Stay updated with all the Latest Kochi headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.

Related Articles

Vyttila flyover concrete work over
  • Wednesday | 27th May, 2020
New normal for cops, prisoners
  • Wednesday | 27th May, 2020