Organ Donation:3 Critical Patients Get Fresh Lease Of Life With Transplantation Of Liver and Kidneys

By 121News

Chandigarh 09^th February:- After the  decision to donate organs of her daughter, she feels she's somewhere around us, said by Bala Devi, the grief stricken but brave-heart  mother of deceased Pooja, as she consented to donate the organs of her daughter, thereby, giving the "gift of life" to three critically ill patients here at PGI Chandigarh.

Time stopped on February 6 for Bala Devi when she got the tragic news of her daughter, Pooja, 26 years, a resident of Ram Darbar, being grievously injured in a hit and run case while going on her two-wheeler. The family immediately rushed Pooja to a nearby hospital in Mohali from where she was referred to PGI and was admitted here on the same day. But neither the fervent prayers of the family and friends nor the incessant efforts of the attending doctors and nursing staff could change the dark destiny as the head injuries during the accident had caused irreversible brain damage and  Pooja was pronounced brain dead on 7^th February after following the protocols of THOA.

Bala Devi, a widow herself who had raised her children facing all the odds of life,  is still in a shock, failing to come to terms with reality of her daughter being no more, as she shared that you know how difficult it is to raise a family after the demise of one's husband. She and her children have been through enough. How could life have cheated us again? There is no greater pain than losing your child, that too, at such a prime age.

After the brain death declaration, the family, when counseled by the transplant coordinators here in PGI, consented for organ donation of deceased Pooja. Following which, the doctors went ahead with the retrieval of the liver and kidneys. Three persons, including one patient suffering from end-stage liver failure and two kidney patients underwent successful transplants within 24 hours of the decision.

Sulekh and Aarti, mournful but proud siblings of deceased Pooja, shared that we can't forget -nor would we want to forget - her smile and her laughter and all her hopes and dreams. Now she lays silent-forever gone.

Talking about their courageous step of organ donation, they said that it was the toughest decision. What helped us take a call was that she could live on through other people. Hopefully, our decision for organ donation will help some other families turn lucky and save them from the pain and trauma of losing their family members, with which we will live till our last breath. This will be our biggest tribute to our dear sister.

Pooja's mother Bala Devi and her siblings Sulekh and Aarti are brave-hearts whose decision of  organ donation is extremely courageous but very rare in a country of 1.2 billion people.