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Mahesh Kumar, a private company employee residing at Purasaiwalkam,from Chennai was eagerly waiting to meet his sister Sangeetha and her children at dinner on July 27. a few hours later, he was informed that his sister had met with an accident and slipped into a coma. The family was shocked when doctors said Sangeetha was brain-dead.
Within hours of receiving the news, the family offered to donate her organs. The harvested organs have now saved the lives of seven people. On the fateful day, Sangeetha, her husband Sundaravadhanam and their children Sachitha, 5, and Jayacharan, 2, were on their way to Purasawalkam on a motorbike when another two-wheeler knocked them over.
While Sundaravadhanam and the children suffered minor injuries, Sangeetha sustained grievous head injuries and lost consciousness. She was admitted to Apollo Hospitals where several attempts to resuscitate her over the next two days failed.
“We were told she could not be revived. Instead of just burying her, we wanted to make sure she gave something away even in death. She was just that kind of a person. A generous person,” said Mahesh. He and Sundaravadhanam consulted the rest of the family and decided to wean her off artificial life support and donate her organs.
“We gave away her eyes, lungs, liver, kidneys and heart which have been used to help seven people waiting for transplants,” said Vijay Damodaran, Sangeetha’s uncle. The family members said they read several articles about organ donation in newspapers that informed them about the process and also encouraged them to take a step forward in the right direction. “Now our whole family has decided to pledge our organs for donation. It is never too late to save lives,” said Mahesh.