Multi-organ donation after brain death saves five lives, restores vision to two
A donor heart was transported nearly 98 km from Rohtak in Haryana to Delhi in just 85 minutes through a specially created green corridor, enabling doctors to perform a life-saving transplant on a critically ill patient suffering from advanced heart disease.
The heart was retrieved from a 37-year-old brain-dead man from Bhiwani district who had been admitted to Pt B D Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak after he was found unconscious on a roadside. Doctors said a CT scan revealed intracranial haemorrhage , and despite treatment he was later declared brain dead. After counselling by doctors, his family consented to multi-organ donation .
The patient had reportedly been referred to PGIMS earlier and admitted to the trauma centre ICU, where doctors eventually confirmed brain death. The organ retrieval process began at around 2.20 pm on April 9 , after which the heart was prepared for immediate transport.
A green corridor jointly facilitated by Delhi Police and Rohtak Police ensured uninterrupted movement for the ambulance carrying the organ. The vehicle departed from PGIMS Rohtak at about 2.50 pm and reached Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla at 4.15 pm , covering the distance within the critical viability window required for transplantation.
The heart was transplanted into a 26-year-old patient suffering from advanced dilated cardiomyopathy , a condition in which the heart muscle becomes enlarged and weakened, severely reducing its ability to pump blood. Doctors said transplantation was the only effective treatment option for the patient. The surgery was successfully carried out by the cardiac team at the hospital, and the patient is currently under close monitoring in the ICU and on ventilator support .
Other organs from the donor were also allocated according to transplant protocols. The lungs were sent to a hospital in Gurugram, while the liver and pancreas were transported to AIIMS in New Delhi. The kidneys and corneas were retained at PGIMS Rohtak. Officials said the single organ donation saved at least five lives and restored vision to two people through cornea transplants.
Similar green corridor operations have been carried out in several cities in recent years to enable rapid transport of organs for transplantation, including a case in December 2024 when a donor heart was flown from Nagpur to Delhi and rushed through a green corridor to save a patient with severe heart failure.