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Youngest Organ Donor

Delhi: Six-year-old gunshot victim becomes youngest donor at AIIMS

Rolly’s liver went to a seven-year-old child from Lucknow and her kidneys went to a 12-year-old. She is the youngest girl in Delhi-NCR and at AIIMS whose organs have been transplanted.

Rolly Prajapati, a six-year-old girl from Noida who died due to a gunshot wound on April 27, has become the youngest organ donor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), doctors said.

“The family took her to a nearby hospital on April 27 and later she was brought around midnight to the AIIMS trauma centre. A CT scan showed evidence of a gunshot in the head. By the time she had come to AIIMS, she had already suffered severe damage to her brain, so she was intubated and given supportive treatment,” Dr Deepak Gupta, professor of neurosurgery and in-charge of organ procurement services at the trauma centre, told The Indian Express.

“Various tests were conducted on her 12 hours apart, but she was found to be brain dead. We spoke to the family and suggested the option of organ donation, to which they consented,” Dr Gupta said.

The allotment of the donated organs was done by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO). Rolly’s liver went to a 7-year-old child from Lucknow and her kidneys to a 12-year-old. Her corneas were harvested and given to two adults, Dr Gupta said. “Her heart valves have been stored… We didn’t have a recipient that day, so we took out the valves, which will be used for two children,” he said, adding that the children who received the organs are doing well.

“She’s the youngest girl in Delhi-NCR and at AIIMS whose organs have been transplanted. There is a huge waiting list for children and many children die waiting for transplants,” he added.

Hari Narayan Prajapati, Rolly’s father, a tailor working in Noida, said she was sleeping on a charpai in a small open space in front of their home around 9 pm on April 27 when they heard a sound. “It was like the sound of something bursting. My wife and I were sitting on the floor close to the charpai… she was cooking on the stove nearby,” Prajapati said. “The child got up from the charpai and fell to the floor immediately. There was a lot of blood, so we rushed her to a hospital at Sector 30. From there we were referred to AIIMS. When a CT scan was done, that’s how we knew it was a gunshot. Kahan se aa gayi goli (where did the gunshot come from?),” he said.

“On April 29, we were told that her condition was serious and there wasn’t much of a chance. They asked us a few times about organ donation and said that they can save 4-5 children with that. We donated… aisa lagega ki humari bachi bhi un bachon ke beech mein khel rahi hain (it would feel like our daughter is playing among those kids),” he said.

A complaint was filed with the police on May 4 or 5, Prajapati said. “We went after we had calmed down a little,” he added. Rolly has five siblings. Her mother, Poonam Devi, works with a snacks and sweets shop. The family is from Kasganj in Uttar Pradesh.

Courtsy: Express News Service | New Delhi |May 20, 2022