Toddler gives new lease of life to 3-yr-old girl

Two people got a new lease of life on Tuesday after the family of a 14-month-old Surat boy decided to donate his organs.

In an exemplary gesture, the parents of a brain dead 14-month-old boy from Surat donated his organs, including heart, giving a new lease of life to a threeand-a-half-year-old girl in Mumbai. This made the toddler the youngest donor in western India.

Counsellors said convincing the Shahs was difficult, as Somnath was their only son. The toddler was declared brain dead two days after an accident at his residence. Somnath sustained a head injury after he slipped on the stairs while playing.

The boy was rushed to Surat’s New Civil Hospital. “We approached his father Sunil and told him that finding a cadaver for children is extremely difficult. When he realised that his son could save multiple lives, the Shahs agreed to donate Somnath’s organs,” said Nilesh Mandlewala, president of Donate Life, a Gujarat-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) which promotes organ donation.

Somnath’s kidneys were sent to the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Center (IKRDC), Ahmedabad, and were used to save the life of a 15-year-old boy diagnosed with kidney failure since a decade. His heart was transported to Fortis Hospital, Mulund, via commercial flight covering 331.7kms in 95 minutes.

“The recipient of his heart, a three-and-a-halfyear-old girl from Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai, was on the waiting list since August 2016,” said officials from the Fortis hospital.