Chandigarh: Newborn baby donor gives new lease of life to 21-year-old woman at PGIMER

A newborn baby, who lived for less than 70 hours, has become the youngest-ever organ donor at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh. According to reports, upon being informed that their baby would not pull through, the parents decided not to let their boy's death be in vain. With this, he became the youngest-ever organ donor in the history of PGIMER since the cadaver organ transplant programme was initiated in 1996.

Living through others

The newborn baby boy had incurable brain abnormalities incompatible with life, which claimed his life on February 18. When the doctors broke the news to the newborn’s parents that he would not pull through, they reportedly made up their mind to see their baby live through others. That's when they reached out to transplant coordinators and gave their consent for organ donation.

Following their decision, the doctors performed a rare and highly intricate procedure in order to remove the kidneys from the newborn and save another life.

According to reports, Prof. Ashish Sharma, who is the head of Renal Transplant Surgery at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research stated that the retrieval of organs from children is somewhat rare and it is even rarer to carry out the procedure from newborns with congenital abnormalities.

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The procedure had its own sets of challenges. Firstly, the donor was a newborn and that implies that this was not a routine procedure and demanded a lot of deftness and skill. Secondly, the recipient who matched with the new born's kidneys was a 21-year-old adult and therefore, both the kidneys from the newborn were transplanted onto one recipient.

Speaking to media, the boy's father claimed that they had taken the decision for their own peace and solace. He added that he hopes that his baby boy's story will someday inspire others who find themselves in similar position. The father who wished to remain anonymous claimed that he wanted others to be aware of organ-donation and that death is not always the end since there is a way to live through others.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

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