59-yr-old brain-dead man saves five lives through organ donation at AIIMS

By Shalini Bharadwaj
New Delhi [India], May 3 : A 59-year-old brain-dead man, who had suffered fatal injuries in a road accident, has donated his organs at AIIMS, Delhi and saved the lives of five people after his family gave consent. The man donated a liver, kidneys, heart, and corneas.
Rupchandra Singh met with an accident on April 30, while he was on a motorcycle along with his son. He was brought to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre with a severe head injury and was declared brain dead on Tuesday.
The AIIMS staff said that the family agreed to organ donation after the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation (ORBO) Transplant Counsellors and Coordinators held counselling with them.
"Initially, the family was not aware of organ donation. But, as the ORBO Transplant Counsellors and Coordinators had multiple counselling sessions with the family regarding the organ donation, they agreed to it."
"Surya Pratap Singh, brother of another multi-organ donor, who donated his organs in March this year, at AIIMS, also shared his family's experience of organ donation. In a subsequent counselling session, Rupachandra Singh's family unanimously agreed in favour of organ donation," the AIIMS added.
Dr Aarti Vij, Head of ORBO AIIMS, said, "It is very tough for the family to decide on organ donation. Especially in unfortunate incidents like Road Traffic Accidents, wherein the family is in a state of shock. However, when a family takes this brave decision, then all the stakeholder groups, like treating doctors, transplant coordinators, the organ transplant team, the forensic department, the police, and all support departments, work very swiftly to coordinate the process and ease the family from any further procedural constraints."
Nagender, son of the 59-year-old, said, "My father was a very kind-hearted and social human being. We lost him in a very unfortunate way, and it's our wish that his organs impart life to others who are ailing." "He helped everyone when he was alive, and he is doing the same when he is parting," he added.
Rupchandra Singh's organs were allocated to recipients through National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO).
His heart was allocated to Apollo Hospital, Delhi. The liver was allocated to Army Hospital (Research And Referral), and the kidneys were allocated to two hospitals at AIIMS and RML Hospital. While his corneas have been banked at the National Eye Bank at AIIMS.
"It is crucial that the retrieved organs reach the recipients in various hospitals safely within the time frame. The ORBO has reached out to Delhi Traffic Control Room for creating the green corridor, which ensured rapid transit of organs to various hospitals in different parts of Delhi during the peak traffic hours of the morning," said Dr Vij.