Engineering girl donates her organs to six people after accident claims her life

Bengaluru, Feb 26: Inspired by 27-year-old Harish Nanjappa, who asked bystanders to donate his organs even as his body was cut in half following a ghastly road accident last week, the family of an 18-year-old brain-dead girl has donated her organs.

The girl, Sanjana alias Sanju, gave a new lease of life to four people with the donation of her heart, liver, kidneys and eyes. The girl, who hailed from Hassan, was a student at Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering in Mysuru. She had met with an accident while riding pillion on a motorcycle with her friend near KRS dam near Mysuru on February 21.

She suffered serious head injuries when a two-wheeler coming in the opposite direction hit her motorcycle. She was rushed to Apollo BGS Hospitals in Mysuru and then to Nimhans, Bengaluru. “Doctors told us that her condition was critical and that nothing could be done about it. We decided to take her back to Hassan,” said Chethan, her sister's husband. “Her parents were moved by the accident in Nelamangala where the dying man was wishing to donate his organs. They decided to donate her organs, too.”

The family then contacted the Zonal Co-ordination Committee of Karnataka for Organ Transplantation and gave its consent to donate her organs.

Sanjana was shifted to the BGS Global Hospitals in Bengaluru at 12.15 pm on Thursday and her organs were retrieved. The retrieved heart was then taken to Narayana Health, Hosur Road, via a green corridor. Meanwhile, her liver and a kidney were simultaneously transplanted into a 44-year-old woman from Bengaluru who was suffering from end-stage liver disease and a kidney failure. The recipient was on haemodialysis.

Sanjana's corneas were sent to Narayana Nethralaya. The other kidney was taken to Victoria Hospital for transplant into another patient.

Emotions ran high at BGS Global Hospitals when Sanjana's father, Eerappa, stepped in front of the vehicle carrying her heart and kneeled down with folded hands. “My daughter was of the generous kind. She always helped the needy and lent money to the poor,” he said. “We thought, when she is no more, at least her organs should be of use to others.”