For the first time in south Tamil Nadu a heart transplant was performed in the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai on 18th October 2017. A 25-year-old person, who met with an accident, was declared brain dead at Velammal Medical College Hospital & Research Institute, Madurai. The family came forward to donate his organs.

A team of doctors from Government Rajaji Hospital went to the donor hospital to assess the heart. The recipient was a 46-year-old person from Usilampatti. The heart was taken from Velammal Medical College Hospital & Research Institute to the recipient hospital which was about eight kilometres away in just eight minutes with the help of the city traffic police. The surgery was performed by a team led by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. A Rathinavel.

The donor’s lungs were given to a patient from Gleneagles Global Health City in Chennai and one kidney was given to Galaxy Chest Multi Specialty Hospital in Trichy while the liver and the other kidney were given to patients in the donor hospital.