Humanity with a Heart – WB and Kolkata Police, comes forward to give life to a daily wage earner
Kolkata : Medica Group of Hospitals, the largest private hospital chain in Eastern India, cured a 33-year-old daily wage earner from Farkka, Murshidabad with a Heart Transplant procedure under Swasthya Saathi at its flagship facility Medica Superspecialty Hospital in Kolkata. The team of experienced doctors from the cardiac surgery department including Dr. Kunal Sarkar, Senior Vice Chairman & Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Kolkata, Dr. Soumyajit Ghosh, Associate Consultant, Cardiac Surgeon, at Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Dr. Arpan Chakrabarty, ECMO Physician, and Critical Care Specialist at Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Dr. Dipanjan Chatterjee, ECMO Physician, and Critical Care Specialist at Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Dr. Mrinal Das, Senior Consultant, Cardiac Surgeon, at Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Dr. Ashutosh Samal, Associate Consultant, Cardiac Surgeon, at Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Dr. Deblal Pandit, Dr. Saibal Tripathy and the care team of Medica joined hands together for this remarkable case.
A 33-year-old daily wage earner from Farkka, Murshidabad (Jia Ul Haque) was finding it more difficult to carry out his daily chores due to acute breathlessness. He was earlier diagnosed with end-stage heart failure and had his heart pumping decreased to 20%. (Normal 65 percent); for the same, he was prescribed many medications, some of which were becoming too expensive for him to bear. In March 2022, he met Dr. Kunal Sarkar at one of the Medica Hospitals’ Free Heart Camps in Murshidabad post which he was referred to Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Kolkata, for further heart evaluation, free of cost. Post evaluation, the sole glimmer of hope for him was a heart transplant.
The team of Medica Clinicians approached the Swasthya Bhavan after understanding his financial situation and were assured of their assistance through the Swasthya Saathi Scheme. In response to the appeal, a few other donors also stepped forward to contribute. He was listed on both the national and regional sites of organ donations. In the first week of July, a heart was donated in Kolkata; he was asked to come from Farakka, but with utter sadness, he returned home as the heart was then given to a very sick patient in another Kolkata hospital. Approximately after 10 days, an alert for another heart donation at the SSKM trauma centre was received. It was Eid weekend and organizing transportation to get the patient to Kolkata was proving impossible. Following a discussion, Mr. Aloke Sarkar (Beniapukur PS) of Kolkata Police, who was himself a survivor of severe COVID treated on ECMO in Medica, was approached; he then connected us with Mhd Mustafa in Farrakka for assistance.
The harvesting of organs was scheduled for the morning of July 10th, 2022. The patient arrived in Kolkata from Farakka in the early hours of July 10th.
Dr. Kunal Sarkar, who led the operation, said, “It was a treat to watch a new lease of life being given to a young patient. We at Medica will be forever grateful to our donors who extended their helping hand (RKG Seva Foundation) and Ms. Manju Bhakta’s family for sticking to their previous pledge to Ganadarpan. The assistance of Swathya Bhavan, Kolkata, and the State Police has made the entire operation a success. The patient has made a very good recovery, and he should be discharged from the hospital in a few more days’ time. We wish him all the very best for his life ahead.”
Further, Dr. Arpan Chakraborty, ECMO Physician, and Critical Care Specialist at Medica Superspecialty Hospital, said, “Heart failure affects 1% of India’s total population, and if detected early, many lives can be saved. People who live in remote areas may find such an operation difficult to carry out due to time constraints. Hence, to save precious lives, we frequently hold free health camps in remote areas and assist them as required.”
Dr. Alok Roy, Chairman, Medica Group of Hospitals, averred, “We are here to serve, regardless of financial status, religion, gender, or nationality, and we are extremely grateful to have done so. We are delighted to save lives through organ donation and anticipate that more families will come forward to pledge organs.”