Mumbai lawyer saves several lives after death as family donates organs

Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) In a noble act of organ donation at a government hospital in Mumbai, a 43-year-old lawyer, who passed away recently, saved several lives with her organs which were transplanted to needy patients, an official said.

On May 15, advocate Reena Bansode, 43, was rushed to the government-run Sir J.J. Hospital under the recommendation of Vernon Velho, head of the neurosurgery department.

She was declared brain-dead on Wednesday evening after which a social service team counselled her family members on organ donation.

Upon getting a positive response, the hospital Dean Pallavi Saple, Medical Superintendent Sanjay Surase and other medical officials immediately started the organ donation procedure.

The organs that were harvested included kidneys, cornea, heart and small intestine and as per the rules of the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre, they were donated to needy patients at Sir J.J. Hospital, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Nanavati Hospital and Global Hospital.

Saple said that this is the first time in Mumbai that a small intestine donation operation was performed successfully on a patient, who is recovering well after the surgery.

The multiple organ transplant became the first in any government hospital in Mumbai since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic over 25 months ago, after which all such organ donation activities had stopped as a precautionary measure, affecting many needy patients.

Saple added that the deceased lawyer's family has set the "best example" by agreeing to donate her organs, saving many crucial lives even after her death and such sentiments must be encouraged in today's scientific era.