Bengaluru: Driver donates brain dead son's organs

Bengaluru: Gopi, a professional driver, found it hard to believe when informed by doctors on Thursday that his 20-year-old son, who had met with an accident, was brain dead. "He was kept under observation for more than 24 hours, but his brain showed no activity," weeps Gopi, who lost his wife in 2008.

Despite his pain and shock, Gopi made a decision that not many dare to make even today. He  donated his son,  Dilip Kumar’s organs, giving life to six other sick people.

"After they said that nothing could be done to save him I just asked the doctors if I could donate his organs, " says a grief stricken Gopi. " I am uneducated as I have studied only till the third standard and that too in the Tamil medium. But I  had great plans for my son. Now he is no longer with me, but I know he is around in  these six people whose lives he  has saved," he adds, his voice breaking in sorrow.

Dilip, who lived with his father in Ramamurthinagar and  worked as an interior decorator, met with an accident with a four wheeler on May 24 at 9.10 pm near APNA bazaar when he was returning home from the gym.  The unconscious boy was rushed to the nearest CHAYA super speciality hospital for preliminary care and then moved to the Manipal hospital.

“He was admitted on Thursday. There was maximum injury to the head and although we tried to give him all the help we could,  the brain test, which was repeated after six hours again, showed no activity. He was declared brain dead on May 27,” explains Dr  Olithselvan, chairman of liver transplants at Manipal Hospitals, India, who admits he was  surprised when the driver himself came forward to donate his son's organs.

“In the past we did not see parents and guardians coming forward to donate their wards’ organs, but now, surprisingly, the city is becoming increasingly sensitised to organ donation. It is great to see such a response,” adds the doctor.