Nepali Orphan Gets New Heart in India Milestone

In a groundbreaking medical achievement, Nepali national Durga Kami, also known as Arpana, received a life-saving heart transplant on Monday, December 22, at the General Hospital in Ernakulam. This historic surgery positions the General Hospital as the first district hospital in India to successfully perform a heart transplant, a feat celebrated by hospital authorities. The procedure was vital for Ms. Kami, a 22-year-old orphan, who had been on a super-urgent transplant list due to critical health complications.

The path to the transplant was complex, involving judicial intervention to navigate legal stipulations that typically grant priority to Indian nationals for donor organs. The vital heart was sourced from 46-year-old S. Shibu, a resident of Kollam, who was declared brain-dead at the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. This heart was successfully transplanted into Ms. Kami, who had been seeking medical treatment in India for a year.

An eight-member medical team retrieved the heart and airlifted it to Kochi, where it arrived at the General Hospital theatre by 3:15 p.m. Ms. Kami had been admitted the previous night for preparations. Following successful HLA and blood group matching, the surgery commenced at 11 a.m. and concluded after 1 p.m. The donor, Mr. Shibu, was a victim of a road accident and had been on ventilator support for seven days. His other organs, including kidneys, cornea, liver, and skin, were also allocated for transplantation to various institutions.