Organs of brain-dead man give new lease of life to five patients

Madurai: The organs of a 59-year-old man from Ramanathapuram district, who became brain-dead following a road accident, were donated at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) on Saturday, providing a new lease of life to five people. State honors were accorded to the organ donor.In a statement, GRH dean Dr A Rathinavel said that M Murugan, 59, skidded and fell from his two-wheeler while traveling in Kalanikudi, Ramanathapuram, on the night of January 24. He was subsequently admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at GRH in Madurai in an unconscious state, having sustained a head injury.Murugan received treatment from the neurosurgery/ICU team but was declared brain dead at 6:40 pm on Friday. Kanagambal, Murugan’s wife, gave consent to donate his organs. Organ harvesting took place on Saturday morning. The medical team harvested the liver, kidneys, cornea, and ligaments from the brain-dead organ donor. The liver was allocated to a recipient at Velammal Medical College Hospital, Madurai. One kidney was assigned to Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital, while the other kidney was given to a patient at GRH. The cornea and ligaments were also allocated to patients at GRH.A postmortem was conducted and the body was handed over to the relatives. Murugan’s funeral took place at his native place in Sengamadai, Ramanathapuram. Collector B Vishnu Chandran paid homage to Murugan by according state honors.