A 38-km green corridor was created between Max Super Speciality Hospital in Shalimar Bagh and its Vasant Kunj branch to transport in little over 37 minutes harvested kidneys from a brain dead person, which were implanted in two end-stage kidney failure patients in the city.
The green corridor was created at 1.37 AM yesterday and the organs of a 62-year-old female brain-haemorrhage patient were transported in 37 minutes 45 seconds.
The donor's kidneys saved lives of two patients admitted at Max Hospital Shalimar Bagh, while corneas were sent to AIIMS and liver was transported to The Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) for transplantation.
"The doctors' team worked tirelessly to ensure the two kidney transplants are carried out successfully. The noble decision of the donor's family has given a new lease of life to two people today. We are proud to have been a part of such a brave act and hope that millions take inspiration from the family of this 62-year-old woman," said Waheed Zaman, Senior Consultant, Urology and Renal Transplant at the hospital.
Despite extensive campaigns and efforts made by the government and healthcare providers in India to increase awareness about organ donation, there continues to be a wide gap between the number of organs donated and those waiting for transplant, said Sonal Gupta, Associate Director in Neurosurgery.
"Statistics show that 150,000 people today are on a waiting list for kidney transplant. Heartbreakingly, only 3,000 of them (less than 1/50) get a chance at life again.
"A gradual increase in awareness, improvement of infrastructure, including the training of transplant coordinators to speak with families after a loved one dies, have led to a slow but steady increase in the number of organs available for those in need," Gupta said.
