Organs of a 42-year-old woman are being transported to the nearby hospitals for transplant in Coimbatore. (Photo: DC/File)

Coimbatore : The green corridor was opened up for the transportation of the organs of a 42-year-old woman who was declared brain dead after an accident. The organs from KG Hospital reached Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital in a span of eight minutes covering 13 km.

A stray dog that suddenly crossed the road near Cheripalayam in Negammam was the reason for the accident that caused a serious head injury to 42-year-old Easwari. She was sitting pillion behind her son, a B.Com student at a private college in Udumalpet, when the boy lost control of the bike and fell on the ground.

While the boy sustained minor injuries, the woman was profusely bleeding on the head and was taken to a near-by hospital in Pollachi. She was then referred to KG Hospital where she was declared brain dead on September 10. Dr M. Natarajan, neurosurgeon and D. T.C.R. Ramakrishnan, neurologist, convinced her husband and her son.

Accordingly, the liver, kidneys and the eyes were harvested. One kidney each was given to K.G. Hospital and Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital, liver to KMCH and eyes to Sankara Eye Hospital.

Awareness on organ donation has significantly increased in the Coimbatore region and people are increasingly volunteering to donate their organs nowadays. KG Hospital has performed 28 cadaver transplantations and 256 kidney transplants.

The hospital has harvested 26 kidneys from cadavers to be transplanted in other hospitals. The hospital has harvested and transferred 21 livers to hospitals in Chennai, Vellore, Coimbatore and Hyderabad. Fifty eyes have been transplanted from cadaver donors and 10 heart valves have saved the lives of as many in-patients in Chennai.