It took 36 hours for three medical teams at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai to retrieve 23 organs from  five brain-dead donors and transplant them in 10 patients in the hospital, setting a record of sorts. Starting at 8.30 p.m. on Monday May 4, 2015, the teams worked non-stop till 9.30 am on Wednesday May 6, 2015 retrieving hearts, kidneys, livers and corneas and transplanting them in waiting patients in the hospital or reaching them to other hospitals. “This day marks a milestone as this has never happened before. We offer our deepest thanks to the families of the five donors who rose above their grief to light the flame of life for 23 others,” said Preetha Reddy, Vice chairperson, Apollo Hospitals.

Dr. J. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu said this moment should be taken forward to create more awareness about organ donation. “Today, Tamil Nadu is leading the way in organ donation, but we still have a long way to go. There are still many people who need organs, but are unable to get them,” he said. However, more needs to be done to prevent road traffic accidents, Mr. Radhakrishnan said.

Of the 23 organs, there were 10 kidneys, three pairs of corneas, two hearts and five livers. All five livers, one heart and four of the kidneys were transplanted on to patients at Apollo Hospitals. The other heart was given to Fortis Malar Hospital and all the six corneas were given to Sankara Nethralaya. Of the remaining kidneys, four were sent to KGH, Coimbatore, one to Kamakshi Hospital, and one to Global Hospital.