Surat: In a remarkable act of compassion amid tragedy, a heart harvested from a brain-dead patient at Surat’s New Civil Hospital was transported to Ahmedabad aboard a Vande Bharat Express on Sunday morning, helping save the life of a critically ill patient.The organ donation also gave three other patients a new lease of life through liver and kidney transplants, taking the hospital’s tally to 103 successful organ donations.The donor, 31-year-old Ankesh Valvi, a farmer from Madhya Pradesh’s Pansemal in Barwani district, had sustained severe head injuries in a road accident on Oct 28. He was riding a motorcycle towards a farm near Ranipur village when the vehicle skidded, throwing him off and leaving him critically injured.Valvi was first taken to a nearby govt hospital before being shifted to a private hospital in Nandurbar in Maharashtra. However, his condition remained critical. Unable to afford the costly treatment, his family brought him to Surat’s New Civil Hospital on Friday, having learnt about its advanced medical facilities.Despite sustained efforts by doctors, Valvi was declared brain-dead at 10.46pm on Saturday by a team of specialists.Iqbal Kadiwala, a member of the Angadaan Charitable Trust, said the family agreed to donate his heart, liver and both kidneys following counselling by hospital superintendent Dr Parul Vadgama, Dr Nilesh Kachhadiya and organ donation volunteers.“Despite their immense grief, the family took the courageous decision to donate his organs, giving four patients a chance at life,” Kadiwala said.The heart was transported aboard a Vande Bharat Express to Ahmedabad’s U N Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre on Sunday morning. This marked the second occasion on which a heart was transported from Surat to Ahmedabad using the semi-high-speed train.Meanwhile, the liver and both kidneys were sent to Ahmedabad’s Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre for transplantation, benefiting three more patients.Valvi is survived by his parents, wife, an eight-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter. Even as his family mourns an irreplaceable loss, his final act of generosity has given four families renewed hope.
