The liver and two kidneys of 46-year-old bank employee Preeti Nagraj were harvested after she was declared brain dead on Saturday. The recipients have been sent to Bengaluru for liver transplantation, while Mangaluru and Manipal have sent patients for kidney transplants each.
Nagraj was among the two persons who were injured in a collision between a car in Ballalbagh around noon on April 9. The car crossed the median and rammed into the vehicle of Ms. Nagaraj and three other vehicles, one of the vehicles that slowed down after a traffic jam. Ms. Nagraj, who was returning after attending a function related to her father at Kudroli Gokarnath Temple, suffered a serious head injury.
Preeti Nagaraj | photo credit: special arrangement
After 13 days of long treatment, doctors at AJ Institute of Medical Sciences declared him brain dead. “She was a healthy woman and had no health complications. My relatives, who are doctors, suggested donating his organs. I agreed to harvest her organs and transplant them to needy patients,” said Manoj Kalyan, husband of Ms. Nagraj. He said that his daughter Shifali, who is pursuing MBA in Bangalore, also agreed to donate.
Prashant Marla, the institute’s director and transplant surgeon, said the organs were harvested by experts in the presence of transplant coordinators of the state government’s organ transplant authority, Jeevasarthakathe.
The liver was flown to the recipient at Aster CMI Hospital in Bengaluru, while one patient each at KMC Mangaluru and KMC Manipal hospitals was sent by road for a kidney transplant. The city traffic police provided zero traffic facilities for the movement of organs to the three hospitals.
exemplary punishment
Sad Mr Manoj said that the car driver Shravan Kumar should be given exemplary punishment for the accident. “He recklessly drove the car which killed my wife.” Mr. Manoj said that the car did not have third party insurance and the car is not yet registered in the name of Shravan. The car was completely covered with an ‘illegal’ tint.
Mangaluru Traffic Police arrested Shravan and invoked rare section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code. The local district sessions court granted bail to Shravan on Friday.