Liver travels 1,182 kilometers from Chandigarh to Ahmedabad for a Matching Recipient
2.5 years-old Anaika served a noble cause far beyond her age as she left this mortal world
Her parting gifts: Both Kidneys, Liver & Corneas
Liver travels 1,182 kilometers from Chandigarh to Ahmedabad for a Matching Recipient
Chandigarh: 22 December : At PGIMER, little girl Anaika, all of two and a half years old, served a noble cause far beyond her age as she left this mortal world. She became a legend in her passing with her family donating all her organs, thereby, giving the ‘gift of life’ to as many as three terminally ill organ failure patients and the ‘gift of sight’ to two more, thereby impacting five lives and sustaining the hope for many more ‘in waiting’ recipients.
Paying a rich tribute to the departed soul, Prof. Surjeet Singh, Director PGIMER said, “This noble act of the family is really praiseworthy and should motivate others. It is really crucial for everyone to understand that even in times of grief, one positive response too can change the lives of multiple strangers and bring a smile to many faces. It was a very courageous decision taken by the donor Gupta family even as they were grieving the sudden demise of their daughter.”
Anaika had met with a fatal car accident when the car she was traveling in along with other family members collided head-on with a pick-up truck near a housing society in Sector 89, Mohali on 12th December, 2021. The mother and brother of Anaika along with three other relatives died on the spot. Anaika, being critically injured, was rushed to SGHS Hospital Sohana, Mohali. Later, she was shifted to PGIMER on 15th December, 2021 where despite the best of efforts, she succumbed to her injuries. The child was declared brain dead on 21st December.
In spite of the irreparable loss, Anaika’s brave-heart father Amit Gupta, a businessman based in Bangalore, decided to donate his child’s organs.He had rushed to Chandigarh after hearing about the tragic accident. His wife along with her kids had come to Chandigarh earlier to visit her parents who reside here.
Sharing his sentiments, Amit Gupta said, “I have lost everything…my wife, my son and now even my daughter. My world is doomed. Can there be anything more traumatic ? So I thought if I could save someone from this terrible pain of losing their family member With organ donation, this horrible tragedy could serve such a noble purpose, of actually ‘giving life to others’ Although we have lost our daughter, she continues to ‘live’ in five others. It is an amazing legacy and some succour to my unbearable tragedy .”
Following Amit Gupta’s consent, Anaika’s liver, kidneys and corneas were retrieved at PGIMER. Since, there was no matching recipient for liver here; it was allocated for a matching recipient in IKDRC, Ahmedabad with the intervention of NOTTO.
And then, followed the flurry of activities with everyone racing against time. The harvested liver was sent from PGIMER Chandigarh to International AirPort Mohali in 18 minutes by creating a ‘Green Corridor’ for the GoAir airlines flight scheduled for departure at 3.35 pm yesterday. After landing at 5.35 pm at Ahmedabad, the retrieved liver was taken to IKDRC, Ahmadabad, where it was transplanted to a terminally ill 7-year-old male child.
The retrieved kidneys were transplanted to the renal failure patients here in PGIMER, thereby giving them a second lease of life. The harvested corneas, on transplantation, restored the sight of two corneal blind patients.
In all, five lives were impacted, one in Ahmedabad and other four in PGIMER Chandigarh, as an outcome of the magnanimous gesture of the donor family and synergised efforts of the PGIMER team.
