By IANS
New Delhi : Havildar Sawai Singh was killed in a road accident last week but even in his death he gave the gift of life to three persons, including a fellow soldier, by donating his eyes and body organs.
The 40-year-old army man sustained major bead injuries in the accident here Sep 8 and was declared brain dead by the doctors of the Army Hospital (Research and Referral).
His family consented to donate his liver, kidneys and eyes.
The liver was transplanted into a 35-year-old soldier suffering from cirrhosis of liver and one kidney was transplanted into the 38-year-old wife of a serving air force sergeant who had serious kidney problems.
The other kidney was handed over to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where it was transplanted into a 58-year-old patient suffering from chronic kidney failure.
Singh’s corneas were transplanted into two suitable recipients.
The entire procedure took over 16 hours and continued till the wee hours of Thursday, hospital authorities said Friday.
“This multi-task procedure was completed by a 40-member team of doctors and support nursing staff under the overall supervision of Brig. R.P. Chaubey, while the surgical team was lead by Col. Anupam Saha and Cdr. Sudip Naidu,” the hospital said in a statement.
The authorities said the entire operation, considering its medico-legal aspects, was carried out with the support of Delhi Police and the Safdarjang Hospital.
This is the second instance of a multi-organ donation in a medico-legal case by the defence force. An army officer, Major Sidharth Malik, had donated the organs of his year-and-a-half old son who had lost his life after falling from a balcony.
Last month, Lance Naik G.S. Bisht of 26 Rashtriya Rifles had donated his wife’s organs, after her death, to save lives of three people including a soldier in Delhi.