The heart of a 23-year-old young man from Pune now beats in a 24-year-old man in Delhi. This was because of the generosity of the family from Pune who donated not one, but six organs of the young man who died of a head injury sustained in a road traffic accident. He was admitted to Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune on 20th April 2016, but succumbed to his injuries five days later. This was the first time that a total of six organs and tissues were donated by a deceased donor in Pune – heart, liver, two kidneys and two corneas. And this resulted in the first case of inter-state heart transplant from Pune.

Mrs. Arati Gokhale, Central Coordinator, Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC), Nagpur, said that in August 2015 a heart was sent from Pune to Mumbai and was transplanted successfully. But, this time there was no suitable recipient in Mumbai, so the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) was contacted in New Delhi. There was a requirement in All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and the team headed by Dr. Balram Airan reached Pune to retrieve the heart. Once the heart was retrieved, the distance of 7.8 km from Ruby Hall Clinic to the airport was covered in just six minutes. The ‘green corridor’ was coordinated by DCP Sarang Awad.

According to Dr. P. K. Grant, Chief Cardiologist & Managing Trustee, Ruby Hall Clinic, the liver and one kidney were transplanted in Ruby Hall Clinic and the other kidney was shared with Aditya Birla Hospital. Mrs. Surekha Joshi, social worker and transplant coordinator at Ruby Hall Clinic said, “The young man’s maternal uncle, an ex-army man who had fought in the Kargil war played a major role in convincing the other family members about organ donation.”