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.