19-year-old ailing youth admitted in Okhla hospital gets new lease of life through green corridor

A 9.2-km green corridor in 14 minutes has given a new lease of life to a 19-year-old boy in Okhla who had been suffering from suffering from advanced heart failure for one-and-a-half years.

Save community journalism by paying Rs 500, 1,000 and more.

According to media reports, doctors at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla, have been credited for this medical feat and successfully transplanting the heart of a 55-year-old-brain dead donor to the boy in a complex surgery on Tuesday.

The donor had fallen unconscious on the road while going for a morning walk and was immediately admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi with a severe head injury and was declared brain stem dead, reported IE.

After coming to know about it, the Delhi Traffic Police played an important role in creating a green corridor so that 9.2 kilometer could be covered in 14 minutes. “The administration of Fortis Hospital, New Friends Colony has shared a message regarding the green corridor which was created by #DelhiTrafficPolice for the quick transportation of a live heart for a 19-year-old boy,” it tweeted.

The heart belonged to a 55-year-old brain-dead woman who was admitted to AIIMS. Her family decided to donate her heart to a 19-year-old boy who has been suffering for the last 1.5 year.

Dr Z S Meharwal, executive director and head of Adult Cardiac Surgery, VAD & Heart Transplantation Programme, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, said: “Heart transplant was necessary in this case because the patient was in an advanced heart failure stage due to dilated cardiomyopathy. The surgery was challenging for us as there was a significant mismatch in the height and weight of the donor and recipient. The donor was female and short in height, while the recipient was a tall young boy. We could not perform Coronary Angiography (a procedure that uses X-Ray imaging to see your heart’s blood vessels) because of the patient’s condition which is normally recommended.”

“The patient needs good coverage by antibiotics to prevent any infection as these patients are prone to infection because of immunosuppressant therapy. The patient is currently stable and we should be able to mobilise him in the next couple of days,” the doctor said.

Share.

Leave A Reply