Heart sent from Gurgaon to Delhi for transplant through green corridor on odd-even day

Heart harvested from a 43-year-old man at a Gurgaon hospital was transported to another facility in Delhi through a 28-km green corridor in half an hour for a transplant surgery on Tuesday when odd-even traffic rule was in place in the capital, officials said.

The odd-even rule allowed ease in transport of organs, the hospital authorities said.

While the heart was sent from the Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) to the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI), liver and a kidney were sent to other hospitals in the National Capital Region.

Surgeons at FEHI were conducting the heart transplant on a 59-year-old man from Delhi, suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy, a Fortis spokesperson said.

"The donor, declared brain dead, was a male patient suffering from brain stem bleeding. His heart was sent for the recipient at FEHI through a 28-km green corridor from FMRI in 31 minutes," the spokesperson said.

While one of the kidneys was kept by Fortis hospital in Gurgaon, the other was sent to Apollo Hospital here, she said. "The liver was sent to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon."