PWD clerk from Kerala saves many lives in Karnataka

A 56-year-old PWD clerk from Kannur district in Kerala, who was declared brain dead at a private hospital in Mangaluru, gave a new lease of life to five patients in Karnataka

A 56-year-old PWD clerk from Kannur district in Kerala, who was declared brain dead at a private hospital in Mangaluru, gave a new lease of life to five patients in Karnataka. The donor’s family went out of the way to fulfil his last wish by requesting the Kerala police to do the inquest in Mangaluru.

Ramesh K.V, the donor, was found in an unconscious state by passers-by near Chirakkal Railway Station in Kannur on February 13. According to his family, Mr. Ramesh fell while he had gone out on his bicycle to buy groceries.

According to Jeevasarthakathe, Karnataka’s State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) that facilitated the organ donation, Mr. Ramesh was initially admitted to the Government District Hospital in Kannur and eventually to First Neuro Hospital in Padil, Mangaluru, for specialty treatment where doctors declared him brain dead. The patient was certified brain dead at A.J. Hospital in Mangaluru on February 18.

Jeevasarthakathe Chief Transplant Coordinator Lijamol Joseph said the family went out of the way to ensure timely donation. “As our organ donation protocols are different from that in Kerala, the family got the Kerala police to come down to Mangaluru for the inquest so as to ensure that organs could be harvested at the earliest. This is a great gesture and has helped timely retrieval of the vital organs,” she said.

“Although the family consented for all organs, we could utilise his liver, kidneys, and corneas. While the liver has been given to Sparsh Hospital on Infantry Road in Bengaluru, the right kidney went to KMC Manipal Hospital in Udupi. The left kidney was given to A.J Hospital, where the retrieval was done. The corneas were donated to KMC Manipal Eye Bank,” she said.

The donor’s elder son Siddharth Ramesh told The Hindu that it was his father’s wish to donate organs. “Some 10 years ago when my maternal grandfather passed away and had donated his eyes, my father had expressed his desire to donate his organs. He had told me to make sure that as many lives as possible were saved in his death. We are glad we were able to do what was possible to fulfil his wish,” he said.

“As both me and my younger brother were not present when the accident happened, (I was in the UK for higher studies and my brother in Dubai where he works), my mother (a retired teacher) and paternal grandmother and paternal aunt, initially consented to the donation,” he said.