Hope For Revived Life! Army Veteran's Heart Gives New Lease Of Life To Soldier's Wife

In a first of its kind coordination seen among the Armed Forces Medical Services(AFMS), the Army Organ Retrieval and Transplant Authority (AORTA) conducted an inter-hospital transfer of a heart for transplant.

Among the beneficiaries who received the donated organs of the brain-dead army veteran include the wife of a serving soldier in Pune. The transplant was successfully conducted on February 11, and saw the army veteran give a new lease of life to the 29-year-old woman suffering from a weak heart.

In a first of such reported instance, a donor's heart has been transported between two service hospitals within a short period through the efforts by IAF by providing a fast Embraer jet aircraft. The organ donor, a 40-year-old veteran, was involved in a road accident in Madhya Pradesh and was taken to a local civil hospital for treatment.

Another Lease Of Life

There he was put on life support and was later on shifted to the Army Hospital, Research & Referral (AHRR) in New Delhi. As per a report by Hindustan Times, his head injuries were severe and within a couple days of treatment, he was declared brain dead by the critical care team of AHRR.

Following this, the veteran's family decided on multiple organ donations and coordinated with the AORTA. Among the beneficiaries whom the veteran breathed back life into was the 29-year-old wife of a soldier who was suffering from a weak heart. She had been suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy with recurrent ventricular tachycardia and was waiting for a suitable heart organ donor for over six months. According to the commandant Army Institute of Cardio-Thoracic Sciences (AICTS), "She required a new heart to prolong her life and the team at AICTS was waiting to find a suitable one for her.”

Carrying Hope From Delhi To Pune

The series of events that followed after was nothing less than heartwarming. The medical branch of Southern Command coordinated with the Western Air Command for the transfer of the veteran's heart from AHRR, and turned it into a success through an inter-service coordinated action.

Led with military precision, the heart was retrieved from AHRR Delhi, transported through a green corridor to an IAF aircraft specially dedicated to this effort, flown to Pune, transported by a green corridor to the AICTS, Pune in a little over four hours. Throughout the mission, the Southern Command Provost unit remained in coordination with the Maharashtra state police and traffic police. Within record time they were able to take the heart to the woman and save her life.

Also Read: ORGAN India Envisions An Ecosystem To Enable Organ Transplants And Save Lives