269 km in 75 minutes: Teen's heart flown from Surat to Mumbai to save man's life

Traffic department in Mumbai on Wednesday created a green corridor for transporting a harvested heart of a Surat-based teenager for an emergency
heart transplant surgery of a 43-year-old man at a hospital in Mulund in the district.

The heart, that set out its journey from Surat reached the operation theatre in Fortis Hospital in a matter of 1.15 hours covering a distance of 269 kilometre. From Mumbai airport the heart reached the hospital in less than half-an-hour.

Surgeons at the Fortis Hospital in Mulund successfully conducted the heart transplant surgery on the patient from Alwar, Rajasthan, who suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy.

The transplant became possible when a 17-year-old boy was declared brain dead at Sunshine Global Hospital in Surat, following a head injury during a road accident. The youth’s family consented to donate their his organs to save lives of four deserving recipients by donating his heart, kidneys and liver.

“Airport and Traffic authorities of both cities came together to swiftly lay the green corridor between Surat and Mumbai for the transportation of the heart. The road map and the flight map was immediately put in place and the donor heart left Sunshine Global Hospital, Surat at 10.33 am reaching Surat Airport at 10.38 am,” an official statement said.

The heart landed at Mumbai Airport at 11.20 am in a chartered flight, heading out in the stand-by ambulance at 11.31 am. The green corridor from Domestic Airport (Gate No.8) to Military Road-Santacruz-Chembur Link Road-Chedda Nagar to Eastern Express Highway-Airoli Junction and finally to Fortis Hospital, helped the heart reach the hospital at 11.47 am and into the OT at 11.48 am, the statement said.

“With the successful surgery, the life of the patient was saved from a rapidly deteriorating condition,” an official release from Fortis Hospital stated.

Dr Anvay Mulay, Head of the Cardiac Transplant Team, Fortis Hospital, who conducted the transplant surgery, said “The donor’s family deserves to be applauded and appreciated for having saved four lives through this noble gesture. The recipient of the heart is now stable and has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit.

“Next 48-72 hours will be critical and we will monitor the patient’s condition round the clock,” it said.