Rare gift: Man donates liver to save old friend
NEW DELHI: Puja Bhatnagar perhaps never imagined that friendship would save her life. After suffering chronic liver disease for 17 years, the 44-year-old woman was told by doctors in May that medicines were no longer enough. Only a transplant would save her. The family tried to find a donor among relatives, but found no one suitable. It was then that Prasanna Gopinath stepped up. Finding a plea for help on Bhatnagar's Facebook page, Gopinath flew to Delhi from Chennai, ready to donate a part of his liver to save her life. Crowd-funding help collect the funds and the transplant was carried out at Max Hospital in Saket. Doctors said both the donor and recipient are doing well post-surgery. The Transplant Act is strict about non-related organ donors, and the ethical committee at Max scrutinised the details minutely. "The authorities considered the strong bond of friendship between patient and donor and allowed the liver donation," disclosed Dr Subhash Gupta, chief liver transplant surgeon at Max Hospital. Recalling the friendship that began in 2007, Gopinath told us, "I used to share a flat with Puja and her husband while studying at the University of Glamorgan in Wales 10 years ago. She was like family to me. How could I have let her die for want of a donor?"
The 34-year-old, who works as dog trainer in Chennai, came back to India in 2009 after completing his studies but remained in touch with the Bhatnagars, who settled in Gurgaon after their return from the UK. The hospital staff was impressed. "In many cases, even family members back out when it comes to donating organs, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a friend stepping forward to help," said Dr Gupta.
Even after Gopinath readily agreed to be a donor, the Bhatnagars had to find the money for the Rs 25 lakh procedure. Anurag Bhatnagar revealed to us, "We didn't have enough money left after her treatment to afford the transplant." The patient's students in Gurgaon, friends and family members helped spread the word about need for the funds, and 363 people from across the globe sent in money through Impact Guru, an online fundraising platform, to make the life-saving transplant possible. "The donor has been discharged already, and Puja is likely to be discharged in a day or two," said a doctor at Max on Wednesday.
