Heart transplant surgery: 16-year-old's mother thanks organ donor

Kochi: The mother of Kayamkulam native Harinarayanan (16), who is undergoing a heart transplant surgery, expressed her gratitude to those who were generous enough to donate the organ and help save her son.

Talking to the media, she said both her sons suffered from the same illness. "It was the Kerala government that made all arrangements to save my first child. The one happening now has also been facilitated by them. Since the older one is fine, I sincerely hope this surgery will turn out fine as well. He fell ill at the time of taking admission for Plus-One," she said.

"I express my sincere gratitude to all those who helped us save both my sons, especially the families that decided to donate the hearts. I thank the hospital, the doctors, the Kerala government, the police and the media who ensured the organ reached my son without any hurdles," she said.

Harinarayanan has received the heart of Kanyakumari native Selvin Shekhar (36), whose brain death was confirmed by doctors at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The surgery is being performed at Lissie Hospital in Kochi. The organ was brought to Kochi by helicopter from Thiruvananthapuram. Special traffic regulations were put in place to ensure the ambulance carrying the heart reached the hospital from the Bolgatty helipad without any hindrance.

Selvin Shekhar was a staff nurse at a hospital in Tamil Nadu. His heart, kidneys, pancreas and eyes were donated. One kidney was donated to a patient at KIMS Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram and the other kidney and pancreas were donated to a patient at Aster Medcity in Kochi. His eyes will be donated to two patients of Thiruvananthapuram Eye Hospital.

Organ donation is done through the state government's K-SOTO (Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation), which coordinates postmortem organ donation. Health Minister Veena George thanked Selvin's wife Geetha, who is also a staff nurse, for coming forward to donate the organs.