Date:02/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/02/stories/2008110257790100.htm

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Courage in the face of bereavement

Staff Reporter

Man decides to donate his “brain-dead” daughter’s organs

HYDERABAD: This is a heart-tugging tale of a father, A. Malla Reddy, who showed admirable courage in the face of bereavement. His nine-year-old daughter Kartika was diagnosed with a terminal case of brain tumour.

While Kartika has already started her journey to the next world, the father bravely made arrangements to keep her memories for posterity. Due to the infirmity, Kartika was declared brain dead at Global Hospitals on Saturday and upon her father’s insistence, the doctors retrieved her cornea, liver and kidney for transplantation.

“Perhaps it was destiny. I wanted to somehow give it back to the society.

Something bad has occurred in my family and I felt I should do something good with my daughter,” said Mr. Reddy while coming out of the operation theatre in Global Hospitals where Kartika’s organs were harvested on Saturday night.

Organ retrieval

The father took the decision to donate Kartika’s organs without any counselling. “I contacted Mohan Foundation and they made necessary arrangements for the organ retrieval. My family’s only wish is to see my daughter alive in some way,” he said before heading home.

The Class IV student of St. Andrews, Kartika, was earlier taken to Yashoda Hospital where the doctors gave her little chance to survive. “We decided to immediately shift her to Global, and on Saturday morning, the doctors declared her brain dead,” Mr. Reddy said.