In first of its kind incident, a Navi Mumbai man’s heart travelled over 1,300 km for a transplant in Chennai in a coordinated effort between airport officials, traffic authorities, doctors and the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), according to a report . What makes the incident more special the fact that this heart transplanted in a Lebanese senior citizen. The donor of this heart, Chetan Tailor declared brain dead after 20 days of hospitalisation in Navi Mumbai’s Apollo Hospital on Thursday.

As per the report, Chetan who was 43-year-old and owned a grocery shop in Khopoli suffered an intra-cranial brain bleed and the doctors tried for several days to revive him. A transplant coordinator from the hospital told IE that Chetan’s wife and son had heard about organ donation and decided to go ahead with it. “Only the heart retrieved as other organs not suitable for transplantation,” said Dr Prasad Mugalikar, medical director of Apollo Hospital, Navi Mumbai.

Another problem faced by the hospital was that, out of the 26 heart patients in wait list for a transplant in Mumbai, no one was compatible with the donor. In this case, the organ is provided to the rest of India for a suitable recipient.

Heart transplant

To make this transplant possible, a green corridor created Thursday from the hospital through Palm Beach road, via the Pune highway, and Mankhurd-Ghatkopar link road followed by the Santacruz-Chembur link road to reach Mumbai airport in 40 minutes. From there, it taken to Chennai on a chartered plane. The heart arrived at the Fortis hospital in four hours.

It finally used for a 61-year-old recipient, who underwent heart transplant on Thursday. This Lebanese man is a businessman working in the construction sector. He suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy and registered himself for transplant a month ago. Originally from Lebanon, he has been living with his wife and three children in Chennai since September this year.