Indian Transplant Newsletter.Vol. 14 Issue No.44. Mar 2015-Jun 2015
Print ISSN 0972 - 1568

Zoya Rana… Evershining Star

Indian Transplant Newsletter.
Vol. 14 Issue No.44. Mar 2015-Jun 2015
Print ISSN 0972 - 1568
Print PDF


Zoya Rana, a 21-year-old student pursuing a degree in Fine Arts in Mumbai had come to Nagpur, her hometown, for a short holiday. Little did she or her family know that this would be her last and final visit. On 21st March 2015 around 8.30 a.m. she was presumably hit by a vehicle in the posh civil lines area. A good samaritan took her to a nearby hospital. As the hospital was not equipped to deal with the case, she was taken to the Government Medical College & Hospital (GMC), Nagpur.

Even this hospital advised the relatives to take her to a speciality hospital, in this case Meditrina Hospital. The hospital found severe intracranial injuries and put her on ventilatory support. Her family was informed about the severity of the injuries. After 24 hours the family was informed that Zoya was brain dead.

Zoya’s parents are members of Rotary Club of  Nagpur.  Dr.  Ravi  Wankhede,  Nagpur Centre Head of MOHAN Foundation, is also a member of the same Rotary Club and has been carrying out organ donation campaigns. The parents had heard of the concept of ‘brain death’ from Dr. Ravi Wankhede. They called Dr. Wankhede to the hospital and got all the necessary information and the eventuality in such cases. Dr. Wankhede counseled them and requested them to think of donating Zoya’s organs and tissues. Zoya’s father Shamshuddin and mother Rozina did not take long before they talked to the elders in the family and came back to inform Dr. Wankhede that they would very much like Zoya’s organs to be donated. They were told that her two kidneys and eyes could be donated and transplanted to the needy. Dr. Wankhede later asked their consent to donate liver, which would take some time, because that would involve a Mumbai team coming to Nagpur.

The family, however, did not agree due to family pressure. As Meditrina Hospital is not registered for transplant activities, Zoya was shifted to the Orange City Hospital & Research Institute, Nagpur. After the second mandatory brain death certification,  ZTCC-Nagpur was informed so that the recipients could be identified. The kidneys were retrieved around 2.30 am on 25th March 2015. Although the family consented to donate eyes this could not be done, it being a medico-legal case (MLC). In MLCs, eye donation is carried out only at GMC, Nagpur.

The Ranas belong to the Khoja Muslim community. The community is highly educated and well known socially. The fact that the donation came from the Muslim community is noteworthy. This is perhaps the first case of organ donation from the Muslim community in Nagpur. This will surely send a positive message across all the communities that organs can be donated and shared by people belonging to all faiths. Significantly, in the first successful case of deceased organ donation at Nagpur, one kidney went to a young Muslim girl. Her brother gave an interview and highlighted the fact that her sister’s life was saved by a kidney donated by a Hindu deceased donor.


To cite : Shroff S, Navin S. Zoya Rana… Evershining Star. Indian Transplant Newsletter.Vol. 14 Issue No.44. Mar 2015-Jun 2015.
Available at:
https://www.itnnews.co.in/indian-transplant-newsletter/issue44/Zoya-Rana-Evershining-Star-406.htm

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