An Indian heart beats for Pakistani now

An Indian's heart is now beating for 40-year-old Moulana Mohammed Zubair Ashmi, a Pakistani national, who has undergone a successful heart transplant surgery at the Fortis Malar Hospital here.

Ashmi was suffering from a condition called dilated cardiomyopathy in which functioning of both the ventricles of the heart is severely depressed, said a statement from the hospital Thursday.

He was repeatedly admitted to several hospitals in Pakistan with breathing difficulty, poor urine output and swelling in the body, and doctors advised Ashmi's family that his only chance of survival was a heart transplant.

K.R. Balakrishnan, director of cardiac sciences at Fortis Malar, said Ashmi was on medication for more than a year and his heart's pumping efficiency was only around 10-15 percent against the normal 60 percent.

He was flown to Fortis Malar from a hospital in Lahore, and on a detailed examination doctors realised Ashmi also had renal failure; fluid in his lungs and abdomen; and he was hepatitis C positive.

After a wait of about two months, a suitable Indian donor heart of a different blood group became available, the hospital said.

"I am ready to live life all over again and it is all due to the kindness of my saviour's heart," Ashmi was quoted as saying by the hospital.