Manipal Hospitals liver transplant team save 55-year-old's life

In the midst of another sleepless night, the police troops stationed at the sensitive Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border were witness to aheartwarming story wherein a team of doctors from Bangalore crossed the border on foot to save a man's life amidst the Cauvery unrest.

With CrPc Section 144 (prohibitory orders) in force, the liver transplant team from Manipal Hospitals, led by consultant hepatologistDr. A. Olithselvan along with the patient, crossed the tense border stretch on foot in 30 minutes. The 55 year old patient fromNagpur, Maharashtra was suffering from liver disease and was waiting for a transplant since the past two years. The donor fromErode, Tamil Nadu had suffered severe injuries in a crash and was declared brain-dead on Wednesday.

Dr. A Olithselvan, who was leading the team said, "It would have been very easy for us to decline the liver offer from Tamil Nadu given the current volatile political situation between the two states. However, we would have been unable to save the recipient's life and we would have disregarded the donor's noble gesture..So we decided to ignore the potential risk to the medical team."

Considering the sensitivity of the issue over Cauvery water, it was indeed an affectionate gesture by the donor's family based in Tamil Nadu to grant a ray of hope to the ailing recipient across the border.

Dr. A Olithselvan and his team's heroic act enabled them to reach Manipal Hospital, Salem within four hours. He said, "With the recipient, we traveled in a Karnataka - registered ambulance till the Tamil Nadu border. On reaching the border, we pulled the wheelchair off the ambulance, put the patient in it and walked for a kilometer till we crossed the border and reached an ambulance with Tamil Nadu registration. That half-hour walk seemed never - ending; it felt like crossing the border between two countries."

"The team along with the recipient reached Salem at 3 am. The 12 hour transplant surgery was successfully completed at 4 pm on Thursday at Manipal Hospitals, Salem. The recipient is doing well now and after looking at him and his joyous family, we realized our efforts were worth the risk," Dr. Olithselvan said. He also added, "We hope our return journey is going to be safe and we don't have to prove to anyone whether we are Tamilians or Kannadigas.