Families of organ donors felicitated in Kolkata

KOLKATA: On death, their near ones had saved the lives of eight dying. These families of organ donors do not want to stop at that. On Thursday,

World Kidney Day

, four families of deceased organ donors came together pledging to take organ donation movement forward. Their meet being facilitated by RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) where the four organ donors were declared brain dead.

“There is a lack of awareness about organ donation, especially amongst the youth. There is a need to increase awareness in the society so that more families come forward as donors and save more lives,” said Aviraj Bose’s, whose mother Sumita Bose was one of the two organ donors this year. Two kidneys and liver were transplanted into three patients.

Bose admitted that he himself was not much informed about organ donation before the hospital counselled and educated him once doctors found that his 54-year-old mother had suffered irreversible

brain death

.

The Sarkar family of Jangalmahal realised how organ donation can save lives only after Sucheta Sarkar’s two kidneys were transplanted into two patients fighting renal failure, after the 63-year-old died in April 2018.

“This one organ donation changed the attitude of the entire family. We have all taken a pledge to be donors and donate our organs if the situation ever arises, and it is my humble appeal to create more awareness so that more people come forward and more lives can be saved,” said Sourav Sarkar, a family member.

“The media and hospitals have been playing a big role in in raising awareness. Those who came to my wife’s funeral came to know that my wife’s organs were donated. They not only saluted her but pledged to donate organs,” said SN Mukherjee. His wife Rina Mukherjee’s two kidneys were transplanted into a 41-year-old, in a procedure called En-bloc renal transplant.

The 63-year-old died at RTIICS in January this year. This was the second organ donation this year. Even as January saw two donations within a week, the wheel seemed to have stopped. There has been no donations after that.

“My father took the decision after consulting with Dr. Rakesh Sharma (

Intensivist

) and consented to donate my mother’s organs. We are really very thankful to all the doctors of who helped us throughout this process,” said Dipanwita Das.

Her mother Kalyani Sarkar's case was the lone organ donation in the state in 2017.

“Family members of organ donors are the real heroes of society. They took the initiative to donate the organs of their loved ones and gave a new lease of life to many. We are creating awareness for organ donation, also we would like to request the elders and youth of the society to spread the message about organ donation,” said Dr Pratik Das, Senior Consultant

Nephrology

, at RTIICS.

The hospital officials including Dr Rakesh Sharma, intensivist and Dr Joydeep Bhattacharya, senior medical superintendent felicitated the members of the four families on Thursday.

Coinciding with the World Kidney Day, organisation like Bengal Organ Donation Society took out a walkathon to raise awareness on organ donation.