Heart 'flies' from Indore to Mumbai in 116 minutes to save Odisha youth

Precise and meticulous planning by various private and government agencies enabled a donated heart "fly" from Indore to Mumbai within just 116 minutes to save the life of a 22-year-old cardiac patient from Odisha at a hospital here on Saturday, officials said.

The heart was harvested from a 20-year old Indore boy who was brain-dead after he suffered severe trauma (head injuries) in a road accident and transplanted in the youth from Odisha who was awaiting a donor heart at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, in northeast Mumbai.

The live heart was retrieved by Anvay Mulay, head of cardiac transplant team of the hospital from the brain-dead donor at Choitaram Hospital in Indore this afternoon.The heart commenced its journey from the Choitaram Hospital at 12.20 pm to reach Indore Airport at 12.43 p.m., moved to a waiting Jet Airways flight which departed after 12 minutes, and landed in Mumbai at 1.53 p.m.

An ambulance awaited the heart and passed through a special Green Corridor route laid from the airport to the hospital in Mulund - covering the total 546 kms in just 116 minutes (one hour 56 minutes) flat, a hospital spokesperson said.

It was moved straight to the Fortis Hospital operation theatre where Mulay and his team completed the transplant successfully later this evening.

This was the 12th successful heart transplant at the hospital since the first one in August 2015, and the patient is stable and will be under observation in the ICU for the next 2-3 days, he said.

"These success stories stand as a strong testimony that patients with end stage heart failure now have hope. I appreciate the courage the donor's kin have showed today, they helped save another young life," Mulay said.

He also thanked the ZTCC Mumbai's Sujata Patwardhan, Indore District Commissioner Sanjay Dubey, medical teams at Indore's Choitaram Hospital and MCM Hospital, Muskaan Trust Mumbai and Jet Airways and other staffers for their help and collaboration which gave a successful new lease of life to a young patient.