A 17-year-old Karnataka boy got another chance to live after undergoing a successful heart transplant by doctors at KLES Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital in Belagavi. The heart was donated to the boy by the family of a 52-year-old brain dead man from Kolhapur.

Chief Cardiac Surgeon of the hospital, Dr Richard Saldanha, the boy from Karnataka was diagnosed with ‘dilated cardiomyopathy’, a condition where heart muscles weaken and do not pump blood, reported The New Indian Express.

“The boy was on oxygen and recommended for heart transplant after registering with ‘Jeevsarthakathe’, Karnataka’s organ transplant authority,” Dr Saldanha, who headed the team, said.

Dr Veeresh Manvi, Dr Kothiwale and his team counselled the relatives of the man whose heart was finally donated, and they voluntarily consented for the organ donation. The heart was functioning well, although brain dead.

The heart transplant included a surgery that lasted seven hours on February 26. “The recipient has accepted the heart well and all the medical parameters are found to be well within normal limits,” doctors said.

Part of the team of doctors that performed the cardiothoracic surgery successfully were Dr Mohan Gan, Dr Kiran Kurkure, Dr Ravi Ghatnatti and Dr Praveen Tambrallimath. The recipient walked around in good health on Tuesday, March 23, 25 days after the heart transplant. 

KLES Chairman Dr Prabhakar Kore and Medical Director of KLES Dr M V Jali congratulated the team and expressed gratitude to the donor’s family.

“The donor’s family has set an example in times when families are reluctant to come forward to donate organs and save the lives of the needy,” Dr Kore said.

This is the second successful heart transplant by the KLES team, the last one having been conducted in February 2018.

“KLES Heart Centre with its medical infrastructure can match the best of the hospitals around the globe,” Dr Saldanha said.