Bengaluru: On January 12, 2017 a 17-year-old PUC student riding on his bike skidded and fell near J P Nagar. He was immediately taken to a local hospital and then shifted to Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road for treatment. Doctors declared him brain dead on January 19 and the family consented for organ donation. His kidneys, liver, cornea and heart were taken for donation to the patients registered with ZCCK. The 17-year-old PUC student’s heart went to a 56-year-old man from Domlur, via Green Corridor with the Bengaluru City traffic police on Thursday, January 19 at 10:55 pm covering a distance of 25 kms in just 19 minutes.

The team of doctors from Narayana Health City was at Fortis to retrieve the heart and a 56-year-old self employed man, a resident of Domlur was the recipient. His was a case of Heart Failure. He had a heart attack 14 years ago and then a second attack in 2013. He was being treated at a well-known private hospital in Bangalore. Angioplasty was done at that hospital in 2013 but that did not show any improvement. His heart function was progressively reducing and doctors treating him declared that Heart Transplant was the only hope for his survival. He was referred to Narayana Health City and consulted Dr. Bagirath Raghuraman, Senior Consultant Transplant Cardiologist. Dr. Bagirath said that when the patient was brought to Narayana Health City about a year back, his heart function was only 15 percent. He registered with ZCCK nine months ago and was on the waiting list for a heart. He had 15 admissions in 9 months at Narayana Health City. However, on Thursday, January 19, when he was admitted again to Narayana Health City, it was to receive the heart of a 17-year-old boy. The heart was retrieved from the donor’s body at around 10 pm by Dr. Ravi Shankar Shetty, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and his team.

The heart placed in the ice box was taken into an ambulance waiting outside led by a police team clearing the way by exercising the Green Corridor from Fortis to Narayana Health City. A distance of 25 kms was covered in 19 minutes and the recipient was wheeled into the OT. Surgery began at around 11:30 pm led by Dr. Julius Punnen, Consultant Cardiothoracic Transplant Surgeon and his team. At 4:15 am, Dr. Julius messaged to the NH team on the Whatsapp group, “Thanks everyone! Just completed the operation and everything went well with the grace of God. The patient is fine”. Congratulatory messages started pouring in to the team of doctors comprising Dr. Julius Punnen, Dr. Ravi Shankar Shetty, Dr. Bagirath Raghuraman and Dr. Varun Shetty with a host of back-end team that tirelessly worked round the clock and helped in successfully completing the 29th heart transplant at Narayana Health City.