Chandigarh,   Doctors at the PGIMER have harvested organs from a brain dead four-year-old boy from Punjab who gave a fresh lease of life to three terminally-ill organ failure patients.

The magnanimous gesture of consenting for organ donation by a family from Barnala district gave a fresh lease of life to three patients with transplantation of liver to a matching recipient in the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in Delhi and kidneys and pancreas at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

Expressing gratitude to the donor family, Prof Surjit Singh, Director, PGIMER, said, "For any family, this is a heart-wrenching loss. But families like that of the deceased who have the heart to make an offer in the most tragic moments of their life definitely instil a sense of confidence."

"We at the PGIMER are extremely grateful and appreciate the will of the family to share the gift of life with three terminally-ill organ failure patients."

"God's ways are beyond comprehension. Who could have imagined that Gurjot, our bundle of joy, would not be allowed to celebrate even his fifth birthday. Nothing can replace the void of losing our dear son. But we are trying to draw consolation from the fact that Gurjot's life will go on in others and will give them more days with their families," said Hardeep Singh, the heartbroken father of the organ donor.

"Every transplant provides a new beginning for our patients and is an incredible achievement for the entire team involved in transplantation as well," added the PGIMER Director.

Recalling the heartache of April 2, the donor's father narrated how quickly a generally happy day changed into an unexpected and cruel tragedy. Like any other usual day, the child was busy playing when he rolled over and fell from a height and became unconscious.

Immediately, the unconscious child was first taken to the Civil Hospital in Barnala from where he was referred to the PGIMER. Without losing any time, the family got the child admitted in the PGIMER on April 2.

However, the prognosis being extremely poor, the week-long struggle for life came to an end as he succumbed to his head injury and was declared brain dead on April 9, following the protocols of THOA.

Vipin Koushal, Medical Superintendent, PGIMER-cum-Nodal Officer, ROTTO (North), said, "As per regulations, two confirmatory tests with a gap of 12 hours were conducted, after which the family was counselled about the possibility of organ donation. The family deliberated amongst themselves, considered the option and eventually agreed."

With the deceased's parents consenting to the proposal of organ donation, the departments concerned started reaching out to the matching recipients to honour the family's magnanimous decision.

Having no matching recipient at the PGIMER for liver, NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) was contacted immediately to explore options with other transplant hospitals for matching recipients.

Finally, the liver was allocated by NOTTO for a matching recipient admitted in ILBS and was sent from PGIMER by road through a green corridor for Delhi.

Simultaneously, the Nephrology Department identified several potential recipients who were asked to report at the earliest. The cross match led to identification of two recipients for kidney and combined pancreas and kidney and the transplants of all the organs were accomplished by the early hours of April 10.