Brain dead man's family donates kidneys, corneas in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The family of a 43-year-old man, who was declared brain dead after he suffered a stroke, on Saturday, donated his organs and saved the lives of two, including a 20-year-old youth from Punjab, who had to quit studies due to a chronic kidney failure.
According to doctors, the donor Nitesh Kumar, a resident of Ghaziabad, had right-sided facial deviation with weakness in the limbs on the same side.He was initially taken to a nearby hospital but was referred to Max Hospital Vaishali for specialised tertiary care.
On arrival, he was diagnosed with an acute stroke (acute episode of interruption in blood supply to the brain). He was immediately put on a ventilator and was shifted to Neuro ICU for further care. The patient had a history of cardiac illness, for which he earlier underwent angioplasty.
Due to the very critical nature of the disease, the family was told about the minimal chances of recovery. After a detailed discussion among themselves, the family members expressed their intention to donate his organs. Once the family agreed to organ donation, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) was intimated.
The patient was declared brain dead on March 11 by the committee, comprising neurologists, neurocritical care, and an independent intensivist, following the "apnea test".
The organs were allocated by NOTTO. One of the kidneys was allocated to a youth, a resident of Gurdaspur (Punjab) registered with Max Hospital Vaishali and his transplant was successfully conducted in the early hours on Sunday by a team led by Dr Neeru P Aggarwal, senior director, nephrology and kidney transplant medicine, Max Hospital.
The youth has been on dialysis since November 2021. He had to quit his studies in the first year of graduation due to his kidney ailment.
The other kidney was allocated to a 64-year-old man from Delhi registered with Medanta hospital in Gurgaon. The cornea was harvested by a team from Shroff Eye Centre, Daryaganj.
Nitish Kumar, an engineer, who hailed from Patna, worked for a startup. He is survived by his wife and two children - a five-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter.