Indian Transplant Newsletter Vol. 12 Issue NO.: 38 (Mar 2013 - Jun 2013)
Print ISSN 0972 - 1568

Thoughts of a Donor Family - Living On...

Indian Transplant Newsletter.
Vol. 12 Issue NO.: 38 (Mar 2013 - Jun 2013)
Print ISSN 0972 - 1568
Print PDF


This is a tribute to Savita Harish - a thirty-one-year-old wife, an only child, a cheerful soft-spoken lady , a hard working professional, a friend in need, a cherished daughter-in-law – my brother’s wife.

 

Mrs. Savita Harish


In one of those absolutely bizarre vicious moments we call fate, she became one more statistic in the long list of Road Traffic Accidents in Chennai on the 10th of August 2012.

 

 This article is to share my experience of what followed. The prompt response had her in the best super speciality hospital in minutes, and in spite of all the medical intervention and resuscitation, she was pronounced brain dead.

 

Brain death is as complex as it is abrupt. Clinically, it is a decision taken over a set period of time by different neurologists. Emotionally for us, to see her on the hospital bed then, hooked on to tubes which kept her warm and maintained her parameters was agony , to convince ourselves to let go was pure anguish.

 

 In a situation like this, to take a decision regarding organ donation is a very tough one to make for the family. Ethically, the treating physician cannot vocalise organ harvesting at that point and it is the counsellor who helps the family through the declaration, decision making and the severe emotional strain. There is also the issue of where the post-mortem would be done. Here, it was promised that they would be completing the formalities in the hospital premises itself, without transferring her to another set up for the same.

 

In this time of inexplicable sadness, it was heartrending when my brother and her parents announced, “Take whatever part of her can help another as this is what she would have wanted”. They were not medical graduates, but what they did that day and the manner in which they did it was truly humbling.

 

 Watching the team of surgeons and staff poignantly working in tandem with both – the donor and the recipient with total dedication, respect and professionalism through the night reinforced my belief that we had chosen correctly .We did not know nor did we want to know the recipients of her liver, heart valves, both the kidneys and her cornea but we took refuge in the fact that she was the star who brightened their lives. We drew our serenity and solace from the knowledge that this was possible only because she was in the city and the centre which had all its systems in place for multi organ donation.

 

This experience firmly reinstated my belief that one need not always be a doctor to save lives.

 

Along with spreading the message of organ donation, it is imperative to develop the right infrastructure to make the procedure accessible and hassle free .We lose valuable organs due to   the apprehension and fear of formalities which holds back families from taking the decision .This must be addressed to encourage multi organ transplants.

 

 Most importantly, we should begin by pledging our organs so that our dear ones do not have to go through the dilemma of decision making for us during this time of extreme distress. 

 

 My family’s loss is irreplaceable, but today we think of the one we loved - not as a fatal statistic in a road traffic accident, but as one of the 0.08 per million of organ donors we are privileged to have known and as one who is living on...

 

Dr. Vidya Viswanath M.D, D.P.B

Visakhapatnam


To cite : Vidya Viswanath, Navin S. Thoughts of a Donor Family - Living On... . Indian Transplant Newsletter Vol. 12 Issue NO.: 38 (Mar 2013 - Jun 2013).
Available at:
https://www.itnnews.co.in/indian-transplant-newsletter/issue38/Thoughts-of-a-Donor-Family-LIVING-ON-98.htm

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