Accomplished: Mission Impossible

By Nalini Ravichandran
24 Jan 2009

CHENNAI: The Asthanas' joy knew no bounds. After an unsuccessful search at all major hospitals in cities like Ahmedabad and Delhi for a heart donor for their child Yetharth, they finally found hope in Chennai.

It was a bolt from the blue for Vijay Kishore Asthana and his wife Shilpa Asthana.

"The phone call that I received about the availability of a heart donor in Bangalore would be the most treasured one in my life," said Vijay, father of the two-year-old Yetharth, the youngest heart transplant patient in India.

Yetharth underwent the transplant at the Frontier Lifeline Hospital here recently.

His donor was a three-year- old Bangalore girl, who was declared brain dead after she met with a road accident.

"A day after his birth, Yetharth was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. We tried for a donor at all major hospitals. The toughest part was to get a donor below eight years of age. It seemed almost impossible to us," said Vijay.

Shilpa said they were directed to the Frontier Lifeline Hospital from Bangalore, On reaching the hospital, doctors took down their number and told they would be called if a donor was available.

If not for a stroke of luck, Yetharth would have missed the possibility of a transplant because the family was to leave for their home in Ahmedabad on that day.

When the hospital personnel called up, Vijay had only 30 minutes to decide whether to go for the surgery or not.

"It was a long awaited call. But it had larger implications, like rejection of a foreign body. Yetharth is a very active child. I didn’t want the surgery to affect him in any way," Vijay told to The New Indian Express.

"We are very grateful to the father of the three-yearold donor, Renilson Joseph," said a tearful Shilpa. "We will go and touch his feet. Words are not enough to thank him," Vijay added.

According to Vijay, awareness about heart transplant was very low in North India.

"We were all set to go abroad, but the hub of medical tourism , Chennai, saved us. We would suggest every person to donate his/her organs after his death," he said.

Dr Prem Sekar, who operated on Yetharth, said the child would be under observation and would have to take medicines the whole life.

However, he added that Yetharth would be like any other normal child.

"As one grows older, it becomes difficult for the body to accept a foreign organ. Even for Yetharth, there was a risk of rejection," Sekar said.

Source: Express Buzz

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Accomplished: Mission Impossible