In a remarkable act of selflessness, the family of 56-year-old Manda Bhatkar, who was declared brain dead at Max Super Speciality Hospital Nagpur, gave a new lease of life to three individuals and enriched the life of two, by consenting to donate her organs. Bhatkar suffered an aneurysm-related brain haemorrhage on December 7, and despite the extensive efforts to revive her, was declared brain dead on December 11. After being counselled by the intensive medical team, the family consented to donate both her kidneys, liver and corneas.
One of her Kidney was allocated to a 43-year-old housewife who was under the care of Dr Nishant Deshpande, Director, Nephrology for Chronic Kidney Disease from 2022. As the frequency of her dialysis rose to four times a week, she was enlisted in the transplant waitlist in March 20, 2023. The liver was transplanted into 35-year-old businessman who was being treated for Chronic Liver Failure under the care of Dr Amit Gulhane, Principal Consultant – Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology from December 2024. Throughout the past year, the patient was hospitalised multiple times for ascites management and was added on the waiting list due to end-stage liver failure in March 2025. Both surgeries were performed successfully at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Nagpur.
The second kidney was allotted to Saraswati Kidney Care Center and the corneas were donated to LMH Eye bank, Nagpur. All organ and tissue allocations took place as per the guidance of Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre, Nagpur.
The transplants were led by Dr Gaurav Chaubal, Director – Liver and Multi Organ Transplant, Dr Rajvilas Narkhede, Director – Liver Transplant Surgery & Dr Sanjay Kolte, Director & Head – Urology & Kidney Transplant.
Dr Bipin Jibhkate, Principal Consultant – Critical Care Medicine, said that the patient had developed a balloon-like bulge on a blood vessel in the brain which burst, leading to sudden bleeding. “While a life-saving procedure was performed to control the source of bleeding and relieve pressure on the brain, the patient suffered irreversible brain damage and was pronounced brain dead after two apnoea tests,” said Dr Jibhkate. After discussion and counselling, the family took the altruistic decision to donate her organs.
Speaking about the organ donation, Dr Deshpande said, “With countless patients awaiting kidney transplantation, this act of organ donation has provided a new lease of life to two families. Timely retrieval and transplant from brain-dead donors are crucial, and this selfless gesture highlights the urgent need for awareness and action in organ donation.”
Dr Gulhane said, “The decision of a family to donate the organs of their brain-dead loved one is an extraordinary act of compassion and selflessness. Bhatkar’s gift of life stands as an enduring act of generosity and courage Such stories instils hope and reinforce our belief that one life can indeed light up many lives.”
About Max Healthcare:
Max Healthcare Institute Limited (Max Healthcare) is one of India’s largest healthcare organizations It is committed to the highest standards of clinical excellence and patient care, supported by latest technology and cutting-edge research.
Max Healthcare operates 22 healthcare facilities (~5,000 beds) with a significant presence in North India. The network consists of all the hospitals and medical centres owned and operated by the Company and its subsidiaries, partner healthcare facilities and managed healthcare facilities, which includes state-of-the-art tertiary and quaternary care hospitals located at Saket (3 hospitals), Patparganj, Vaishali, Rajendra Place, Dwarka, Noida and Shalimar Bagh in Delhi NCR and one each in Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Mohali, Bathinda, Dehradun, secondary care hospital in Gurgaon & Bulandshahr and medical centres at Noida, Lajpat Nagar (2 centres) and Panchsheel Park in Delhi NCR, and one in Mohali, Punjab The hospitals in Mohali and Bathinda are under PPP arrangement with the Government of Punjab.
In addition to the hospitals, Max Healthcare operates homecare and pathology businesses under brand names Max@Home and Max Labs, respectively Max@Home offers health and wellness services at home while Max Lab provides diagnostic services to patients outside its network.
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