In Odisha, the parents of a girl named Damayanti Mahanta made a compassionate decision to donate her organs after she was declared brain-dead due to a brain stroke. Damayanti, 14 years old, had been battling chronic kidney disease and undergoing dialysis for several months.
In a historic development for AIIMS Bhubaneswar, surgeons successfully retrieved Damayanti’s liver on Friday after she was declared brain-dead. The liver was then transported to a hospital in New Delhi through a green corridor, as informed by Dr. Ashutosh Biswas, the executive director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
Damayanti’s parents, Banita and Dukhabandhu, who hail from Keonjhar district but currently reside in Bhubaneswar, decided to donate her organs to benefit others in need. Damayanti had suffered a brain stroke and was admitted to the medicine department at AIIMS Bhubaneswar on February 15. Despite being placed on a ventilator, she showed no signs of recovery, leading to the expert committee from AIIMS Bhubaneswar declaring her brain-dead after thorough tests.
Dr Biswas expressed gratitude to Damayanti’s parents for their humanitarian gesture and praised the transplant team for successfully conducting the first deceased donor organ retrieval at the national institute.
Dukhabandhu Mahanta, Damayanti’s father, who works as an auto-driver, shared his mixed emotions, acknowledging the loss of their daughter while expressing happiness that her organs could offer another person a chance at life
Dr. Srikant Behera, the treating physician, played a crucial role in coordinating the entire process, including obtaining consent from Damayanti’s parents. The surgery team, led by Dr. Brumhadutta Pattnaik from the Department of Gastro Surgery, successfully executed the organ retrieval.
Damayanti’s selfless act of organ donation serves as a poignant example of the enduring impact of humanitarian gestures, bringing solace to her grieving parents and offering hope to someone in need of a life-saving transplant.
