Patients recovering well after heart transplant at Kochi hospital

The two patients who underwent heart transplant surgeries in Kochi are recovering well. Ajin Elias and Avani Krishna, who recently had new donor hearts transplanted into them, have started consuming food and communicating, the hospital authorities have said.

Dr. Jose Chacko Periyapuram, who led the surgery at Lisie Hospital here, said the condition of the patients was satisfactory. They would be shifted to rooms in two or three days. “False propaganda had led to the pausing of organ donations from brain-dead patients,” Dr. Periyapuram said. He expressed hope that transplant surgeries would create awareness about organ donation after brain death and bring in a momentum for it.

The two surgeries were successfully performed within 36 hours due to the efficient and coordinated work done by the State government and the Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation, hospital director Fr. Paul Karedan said.

Minister P. Rajeeve intervened to contact Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to arrange for a helicopter to be released for organ donation. Although the Chief Minister had ordered the helicopter to be released to bring the 13-year-old for the second surgery to Kochi, the idea was abandoned following concerns that it would involve more time, Mr. Karedan added.

The relatives of Ajin and Avani thanked the families of Isaac George and Biljit Biju for donating their hearts. Dr. Jacob Abraham, Dr. Jeevesh J. Thomas, and Dr. Joe Joseph attended the press meet.