Tamil Nadu

Wife decides to donate vital organs of ‘brain dead’ husband

P. Thamizhselvan

TIRUCHI: The family of an accident victim, who was declared ‘brain dead’ at a private hospital here, has come forward to donate his vital organs.

The consent for the cadaver donation of 49-year-old Tamizhselvan was signed by his wife T. Rani.

Both were injured in the accident while travelling from Neythalur to Tiruchi in a two-wheeler.

They fell after losing balance while trying to avoid crackers being burst on the road. While Rani had cuts on her face, her husband sustained grievous head injury.

When the doctors at the hospital declared Tamizhselvan ‘brain dead,’ after their attempts to resuscitate him failed, his relatives persuaded his wife to give the nod for cadaver donation.

The relatives of P. Thamizhselvan were also inspired by the noble act of the doctor parents of Chennai to donate the organs of their teenaged son Hithendran, who died after a traffic accident.

“We feel certain that the loss wouldn’t be much felt when we see the lives of others getting saved by him,” said S. Gnanasekaran, the cousin of the victim and the Union Counsellor of Neythalur.

Over 500 people from his village visited the hospital and agreed with the decision. “It was initially difficult to convince the women of our village. But they relented after we explained to them how many lives were saved in the earlier instances of cadaver donations,” he said.

As the hospitals in Tiruchi were not equipped for other transplants, only the kidneys and eyes of Tamizhselvan were removed for transplant on Monday.

The sole bread-winner of the family, Thamizhselvan, who owned a departmental store in his native village Neythalur, is survived by wife and two daughters, Suchitra and Anupriya.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu