A heart transplant conducted within three hours of harvesting the heart from a donor in Jaipur helped a 56-year-old patient get a new lease of life in Delhi. “The patient is recovering well after the successful transplant,” said Dr Ajay Kaul, Chairman and Head of Department, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS), BLK Super Speciality Hospital.

He led the team of doctors who harvested the heart and transplanted it. The patient, a government employee from Kanauni village of Ghaziabad had been suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy. The heart transplant became possible because of the organ donation from a 30-year-old male from Jaipur, who was declared brain-dead at SMS Hospital in Jaipur following a road accident. While the kidneys and eyes were used in Jaipur, the liver and heart were sent to Delhi. The doctors at BLK Super Speciality Hospital swung into action when National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) informed them about the donor and availability of a heart. Dr. Kaul and his team left for Jaipur by an early morning flight and harvested the heart at night. They landed in Delhi at 10.47 pm. A green corridor was created from IGI Airport to BLK Super Speciality Hospital covering a distance of 15 km in just over 18 minutes at night. The heart was transplanted late into the night.