The woman who died twice

For 48-year-old Yerra Rani, it was nothing short of a miracle when she got a replacement heart.

Rani had gone into “heart arrest” twice — completely flatlining — between February 14 to 17 and if a transplant had been delayed, she would not have made it.
She was admitted to Yashoda Hospital with end-stage heart failure with a transplant being her only option. On February 14, she suffered an arrest at night and was revived by doctors.

But Rani’s family, who could not afford the ICU, admitted her to the private ward where, much to the shock of the doctors, she suffered another arrest. Emergency personnel at the hospital rushed and massaged for minutes to bring the heart, and the patient, back to life. “She kept going in and out, into an almost delirious state,” said a doctor.

Laxminarayan, Rani’s husband says, “We were not willing to continue with the treatment, but the doctors just asked us to wait and even got us a discount. The chief doctor had a feeling there will be a heart available.”

And during the hours she spent awake, Rani too had given up. But her daughters and son spoke to her — asking their mother to stay positive. Laxminarayan adds, “We never thought our prayers would be answered so fast. Only the doctor and his team were very hopeful. Two heart arrests in just five days had left all of us very worried.” But Dr A.G. Gokhale, consultant cardiothoracic, transplant and minimal access cardiac surgeon, says, “We got a donor heart from KIMS under the Jeevandan programme and it was a miracle.

Yerra Rani was our first priority as she had been revived twice. That doesn’t happen every day. So, the minute we learnt of the availability of a heart, the team got ready for a full transplant.” Gokhale also admits he was worried, because doctors just don’t give patients and their families hope based on just faith and prayers.
“But I stayed positive for the patient... and when Jeevandan said that there was a heart available, it was pure luck.

She is a very lucky woman. I then spent the night at the hospital as I wanted to be close to the patient in case of any emergency. The procedure was soon over and she is now doing well,” adds the doctor.

Dr Gokhale is also now interested in knowing about the patient’s near-death experience and he’s confident that the patient will open up soon.
And within hours though, Dr Gokhale got another alert — this time of a heart from Bengaluru, and he rushed to make preparations. Another gruelling session began for 24 hours —  two such procedures within a week.