The Dead Boy Who Helped Save Lives
Raqif Makhdoomi
To be very honest, these days internet is filled with filth. Especially, Instagram which is filled up with vulgar content. People nowadays don’t focus on anything but reach, views, shares, followers and likes.
But in between all this you still can find a post in all this filth. While I was scrolling through all the filth, I came across a post which got me in tears and brought smile on my face at the same time. The post was about a boy who died of a mishap but gave life to others .Yes, you read it right. He died but he gave life to others. We don’t often come across such things because now all people want is entertainment not something that adds to their life.
Kirsh, a 17 years old boy who met an accident while he was riding his bike to tuition, saved six lives .While he himself is no more alive.
Here’s the story of how Kirsh helped to save six lives.
It all began. When Kirsh was brought to hospital and the doctors said “He can’t be saved”. What happened next made Krish live in six souls?
On 31 March, Ahmedabad teen Krish Akbari was riding to tuition when a Nilgai, startled by a truck’s horn, suddenly ran onto the road, colliding with his scooter.
Krish suffered critical injuries to his head and face and was rushed to a hospital. Despite doctors’ efforts, he was declared brain-dead.
Amid this unimaginable grief, his family made a life-changing decision of organ donation. His heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, hands and corneas were donated, which gave six patients a second chance at life.
“When Krish’s last rites were being performed, his heart was being transplanted in a 13-year-old boy from Bhavnagar,” said -Krish’s father.
His hands went to a teenager in Faridabad, his kidneys saved two young lives, his corneas restored sight, and his lungs helped another child breathe again.
Krish’s father added the family hopes their decision will inspire more people to choose organ donation.
“He saved six families from the same grief we are feeling. He isn’t gone; he’s living on through the heartbeat of a child and the sight of a stranger,” Krish’s aunt claimed.
A single bold move by his parents is now the reason behind six people living their life. Kirsh’s heart now no more beats in his body but now it’s helping a 13 years old live, similarly now his kidneys are the reason why two people are living. Kirsh’s body turned into ash but he’s alive in six other bodies.
While I am writing these lines in am getting goosebumps. Imagine what falls on his parents when their eyes see those who are alive today because of their son. Mixed emotions of grief and happiness is what they might be experiencing on seeing them.
Kirsh’s parents did what many can never imagine of doing. This must have had been the mostdifficult decisions of their life. But they took it and proved that sometimes you have to keep emotions aside and think rationally.
The first successful long-term human organ transplant was a kidney transplant performed on December 23, 1954, in Boston by Dr. Joseph Murray and his team. The surgery was successful because it was done between identical twins, Ronald and Richard Herrick, which eliminated immune system rejection.
First Successful Liver Transplant: 1963.
First Successful Human Heart Transplant: December 3, 1967, by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in South Africa.
First Corneal Transplant: 1906.
While earlier, temporary transplants were attempted (such as in 1950 and 1952), the 1954 kidney transplant is recognized as the first successful, long-term human organ transplantation.
India did its first transplant on February 2, 1971, at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, by a team led by Dr. Mohan Rao and Dr. K.V. Johny. While earlier experimental transplants occurred, this 1971 operation is recognized as the inaugural successful, long-term kidney transplant in the country.
Key early milestones include:
Kidney Transplant: Feb 2, 1971, at CMC Vellore.
First Heart Transplant (Unsuccessful): Feb 1968, by Dr. P.K. Sen in Mumbai.
First Successful Heart Transplant: Aug 1994, by Dr. P. Venugopal at AIIMS, New Delhi.
First Liver Transplant: 1998, in New Delhi
India did its first successful kidney transplant 17 years after the world’s first successful kidney transplant.
Early Experimental Phase (1900s): Surgeons like Mathieu Jaboulay and Alexis Carrel (who won a Nobel Prize in 1912) experimented with vascular suturing to transplant kidneys, mostly from animals, which failed
Finding donor for heart is often very difficult. Because a heart donor dies. A heart is one of the important organs for survival. Other organ like Heart, Liver, lungs, Pancreas, intestines and various tissues (corneas, skin, bone, heart valves, blood vessels) are to save or enhance lives. Donation usually requires death in a hospital setting (often brain death for organs), with some tissues possible after cardiac death.
Organs that can be donated (after Brain Death):
Heart: Transplanted within 4–6 hours.
Kidneys: Can be preserved for 24–48 hours.
Liver: Can be split to help two people.
Lungs: Single or double-lung transplants.
Pancreas: Used for diabetic patients.
Intestines: Transplanted, though rare.
Uterus: Transplanted for fertility purposes
Tissues that can be donated (after Cardiac Death):
Corneas/Eyes: Restore vision; can be removed several hours after death.
Skin: Used for burn victims.
Bone/Cartilage: Reconstructive surgery.
Heart Valves: Crucial for congenital heart defects.
(The author is a Law student and a human rights activist)
