Life is short but organs can live on

It was a scene straight out of the film Traffic but had a part, which unfolded in the skies high above. An ambulance rushing with a harvested heart towards an air ambulance kept ready for immediate take off from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi, thanks to the support of the government machinery. The medical team then sped from the Kochi Naval airport to a hospital after the busy city roads were cordoned off to facilitate the smooth movement of the ambulance.

The journey which began at 6.51 pm, ended at 7.35 pm and the heart of brain dead Advocate Neelakanta Sharma was successfully transplanted onto recipient Mathew Achadan.
Close on the heels of this, three-year-old Anjana became the youngest organ donor after donating her liver and kidneys to a five year old boy.

Donors, cutting across barriers of age, caste, creed and sex are leading by example, creating awareness and encouraging social responsibility by shrugging off the shackles of inhibitions, preconceived notions and superstitions towards donating organs.

The Department of Health has taken up the task of promoting deceased organ donation and transplantation in Kerala. Kerala Network for Organ Sharing or Mrithasanjeevani is an online secure registry for organ recipients waiting for organ transplantation from various hospitals in Kerala that are authorised to undertake transplantation of organs such as kidneys, liver, heart and lungs.

Aneesh, the organ transplant co-coordinator, states that kidney, liver and heart transplants, as well as eye retrievals and corneal transplants, have received a shot in the arm with this programme. But he cautions, “There is definitely a positive attitude amongst the youth but that is more to sign the forms to pledge their organs than the actual act of donating. Pledging and organ donation are two different words; we have around 10 lakh pledged forms and what I see is that people randomly sign up for cadaver donation without actually understanding the gravity of the act.”  

The noble deed has seen resonance amongst college-goers too. Aloshi, doing his MA Journalism in Sacred Heart College, says, “We had conducted an organ donation drive two years back and we managed to get 800 individuals to pledge their organs. Most of the students have a positive attitude to organ donation and get inspired by real life stories of organ donors, which appear in the media. I feel the media should not stop at just reporting such instances for a day but keep on following up to highlight this humane cause and create awareness.”

Celebrities like Mohanlal, Renjini Haridas, director Siddique, Rima, Kunchacko Boban and Biyon are some of the M’town actors who have backed this initiative by pledging and supporting the cause. Actor Biyon reveals that it was his mother’s constant wish to donate her eyes that had him pledge his eyes at an eye donation camp held at Trichur Medical College.

He says, “The support of my parents helped and I plan to pledge all my organs soon. Many of my friends have pledged their organs. My only concern is if the organs are reaching the worthy recipients because of adverse news reports hinting at lobbies.”  

Sivaram, who has completed his MTech, says, “I have pledged all my organs because there is nothing better than being useful to someone even after death. I informed my parents only after signing up to pledge my organs.”

Rajesh Pillai, who directed Traffic, which has organ donation as its theme, received a lot of calls after his reel life instance mimicked real life. He says, “My film is based on a real life incident and after Sanjay narrated the story, my eyes welled up. When all you hear and read every day is news about murders, rape, accidents, terrorism etc., it was imperative that a noble, unselfish act be told through the larger canvas of cinema, and also it was my social responsibility as a filmmaker. My film is a tribute to the parents of the donor.”  

Dr Murali P. Vettath, senior consultant and chief of the department of cardio thoracic surgery at MIMS Kozhikode says, “There is an increased awareness amongst the people towards pledging their organs but personally I feel there is more that needs to be done by the government and other social foundations in terms of extending monetary aid to the financially backward recipients to give them a new lease of life. Most of the recipients may already have exhausted their money and transplants are expensive as also the cost of immune suppressant medicines to be taken throughout their live.”