The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Organs harvested from brain dead patient

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Organs harvested from brain dead patient

K. Manikandan

The accident victim’s children readily came forward to donate the organs

Lalitha Dharmalingam

TAMBARAM: Lalitha Dharmalingam, a resident of Kamarajar Nagar in Peerkankaranai, near here, was taking a walk near her house on Saturday evening, when she was hit by an autorickshaw. Minutes later, she was declared “brain dead.”

On Monday, a pall of gloom descended near her house where her body was brought before being taken for the final rites. The mourners were present in large numbers as they came to know that Lalitha’s organs had been donated. After the accident on Saturday evening, Lalitha was rushed to Deepam Hospitals in West Tambaram. T.N.Ravisankar, Director of Deepam Hospitals, said the woman had sustained critical head injuries. As the impact of injuries was bad, the brain was severely damaged. A neurosurgeon certified that Lalitha was brain dead. Her relatives were given the option of organ donation, said Dr. Ravisankar, also State secretary of Indian Medical Association.

“We did not hesitate even for a moment,” said D. Balaji (35), the youngest among three brothers, his elder brothers being Vivekanandan (40) and Ramesh (38). While his elder brothers are working in Chennai, Balaji is in Dubai.

In Peerkankaranai, it was a joint family and Lalitha was living with her two sons and grandchildren. “I had another elder brother, Santhanam, who died in a road accident on Velachery Main Road in Selaiyur eight years ago. He was 32 years old then,” Mr. Balaji said.

“That accident made us think about organ donation, but it did not become a reality then,” he recalled. And when the request to donate their mother’s donate organs was made, the family seized the opportunity.

From Deepam Hospital, Lalitha was shifted to Apollo Hospitals, where her eyes, kidney and liver were harvested, Dr. Ravisankar said. Her body was then brought to Tambaram Taluk Government Hospital (also known as Chromepet GH) and handed over to the family after post-mortem.

K.R. Ramaswamy, a neighbour of the family, said Lalitha’s family had been living there since 1964. Her husband, Dharmalingam, who died about 12 years ago, was a leader of the Employees Union of Standard Motors Company for a long time. “The couple used to spare a lot of time for social work and organ donation only reinforces the family’s commitment to noble causes,” Mr. Ramaswamy said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu