Telangana teen gives heart, new life to Andhra boy

For two years, eightyear-old Yashwant could only watch as his friends played and ran around in the neighbourhood. Even a small walk would leave him tired and breathless.

Even after two years of medication, the condition of the boy from East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh only worsened.

“His young body was swollen and his heart was functioning at only eight per cent. He was suffering these symptoms for over two years and not responding to any medication,” Dr Mannem Gopichand, chief cardiac surgeon at Hyderabad’s Star Hospitals, said.

Yashwant was suffering from severe biventricular dysfunction that compromised his heart’s ability to pump blood and was at the “end stage” of the disease, according to a team of paediatric heart surgeons at Star Hospitals. He was saved in the nick of time.

A heart transplant at the hospital on April 4 gave the eightyear-old a new life. The organ came from the neighbouring state of Telangana.

Naveen, an 18-year-old from Chityal in Nalgonda district, was declared brain dead after an accident.

“Naveen’s family agreed to donate his heart to Yashwant and that saved the boy’s life,” said Gopichand, who led the team of 12 doctors that carried out the rare surgery. Doctors had struggled to find a compatible heart.

Expenses were another hurdle. The surgery cost around ₹20 lakh, a sum Yashwant’s mother Satyavathi, a domestic cook, could not afford.

But her persistent efforts paid off. The Andhra Pradesh government sanctioned ₹7 lakh from the chief minister’s relief fund for the surgery.

The remaining cost was borne by Karvy Computershare Ltd. through Hrudaya Foundation that provides treatment to poor children with a heart condition.

On Saturday, doctors presented Yashwant to the media. “I want to be a doctor and save lives,” a beaming Yashwant told reporters in an event.

Transplant is half the battle won. His body is still adjusting to the donated heart.

New technology and improved immunosuppressant drugs have increased the percentage of survival rates with a donor heart, doctors say, but he will have to be careful.

The chances of survival for a year after a heart transplant in India are 85%, five years 75% and for a decade it’s 62%.

“Given the weak economic background of Yashwant, we are looking for a long-term rehabilitation programme,” Gopichand said. He added that they were pooling resources so that Yashwant could be admitted to a boarding school to reduce the chances of infection.

Thirty-eight Indian citizens who overstayed their visa periods, were detained last week in one of the largest operations by immigration and police officials in Leicester in the east Midlands, which has a large minority of Indian origin.

They were found working illegally in two clothing factories in the city, and now face removal to India. The 38 Indians include 29 men and nine women; the companies that employed them also face fines up to 20,000 pounds for each illegal worker, reports from Leicester said.

Alison Spowage of East Midlands Immigration Enforcement said: "Using illegal labour is not victimless. It cheats the taxpayer, undercuts honest businesses and denies legitimate job seekers of employment.”

“Thepenaltiesfor businesses that do not play by the rules are rightly severe. This operation, one of the largest-scale my team has conducted, sends a clear message that we have the resources to tackle immigration abuse,” she added.

Seven of those detained had entered the UK illegally, while others had overstayed their visa period; an Afghan national was also detained in the operation, ‘Leicester Mercury’, a leading local daily, reported.

Many foreign nationals without the right to work in the UK have been detained in recent years following a crackdown by immigration and police officials. Several employers hiring them have been fined.

Employers are obliged to check the immigration status before recruiting under rules put in place when PM Theresa May was the Home secretary.

This operation, one of the largestscale my team has conducted, sends a clear message that we have the resources to tackle immigration abuse...