A lifeline that came in a 40-minute flight from Kerala capital

A lifeline that came in a 40-minute flight from Kerala capital

Heart harvested from a brain-dead woman in Thiruvananthapuram transplanted into a 49-year-old in Kochi

10/05/2020, SARATH BABU GEORGE, JOHN L. PAUL,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Hearty gesture: Medical and police team bringing the heart from Thiruvananthapuram by helicopter. Thulasi Kakkat

The Kerala police transported a heart harvested from a brain-dead woman in Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi in a government-rented helicopter that was flown for its first mission as an air ambulance on Saturday.

The heart was transplanted into Lina Shibu, a 49-year-old woman from Kothamangalam, who had been diagnosed with ischemic cardiomyopathy and under treatment at the Lisie Hospital in Kochi for the past three months.

The district administrations of Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam joined hands soon after Chempazhanthy native Laly Gopakumar’s death on Friday when her family expressed their desire to donate her organs.

Ms. Gopakumar, 50, teacher at Poundkadavu Government Lower Primary School, near Kazhakuttam, died at KIMS Hospital after a fatal haemorrhagic stroke. During her final days, she had apparently conveyed her wish to donate her organs.

Soon, officials of the Kerala Network for Organ Sharing (KNOS), the nodal agency coordinating State government’s organ donation programme (Mrithasanjeevani), took steps to harvest her heart, kidneys, and corneas. The organs were allotted for transplantation in patients admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, KIMS Hospital, and Lissie Hospital, Kochi.

A medical team of Lisie Hospital came to Thiruvananthapuram by road in the morning and the heart was taken to the Thiruvananthapuram airport around 2.45 p.m. The helicopter arrived at the helipad of Hotel Grand Hyatt in Kochi at 3.45 p.m. The police ensured a green corridor from the helipad to the hospital, helping the team to cover the 5-km in five minutes. The surgery began at 4 p.m.

“The heart has begun to beat without mechanical help at 8 p.m., which shows that the first two phases of the surgery are a success. The procedure will continue into the night,” said a spokesman of Lisie Hospital.

The government arranged the helicopter after hospital director Fr. Paul Karedan took up the matter with former MP P. Rajeev. He spoke to the Chief Minister, who directed the State police to arrange the service, the spokesperson said.

However, the government’s decision to hire the AS 365 Dauphin N3, medium twin-engine 11-seater helicopter from Pawan Hans Ltd. amid the ongoing financial crunch has invited criticism from the Opposition. The helicopter was rented for ₹1.44 crore for 20 hours of flight time a month.

(With inputs from Kochi)