The Hindu: Family donates organs of brain dead sportsperson

Persuades those who came to pay homage to donate their organs

The family of a city-based sportsperson, who was declared brain dead following a recent road accident, came forward to donate his organs and also sought to raise awareness by persuading his kith and kin to pledge to donate their organs, here on Saturday.

Scores of his friends and relatives, who came to pay homage, responded positively by filling out forms pledging to donate their organs.

Earlier in the day, the vital organs of G.Manimaran (23) an athlete and Southern Railway employee, were harvested at a city hospital to give a new lease of life to five persons in Tiruchi and Madurai after he was declared brain dead.

A resident of Golden Rock in the city, Manimaran was working as an electrical technician in Southern Railway at Lalgudi. He met with a minor road accident in the city on Wednesday and was treated and discharged initially.

Subsequently, he had developed complications and was admitted to the Railway Hospital and was found to have sustained brain stem injury.

The parents of Manimaran came forward to donate his vital organs and contacted Cethar Hospitals after his situation turned critical and he was declared brain dead on Saturday.

Manimaran’s vital organs, including liver, kidneys and eyes were retrieved by a team of seven surgeons at the hospital.

The retrieved liver was used for a patient with end stage liver disease at Cethar Hospital itself.

The kidneys were sent to private hospitals in Tiruchi and Madurai.

The eyes were sent to the AG Eye Hospital.

The retrieved organs were used by hospitals according to the allotment as per the waiting list of the Tamil Nadu Network for Organ Sharing, according to a hospital release.

Manimaran was an athlete and a hockey player who had represented his college and Anna University teams during 2013-15.

He played the Friends Hockey Club in Tiruchi and was also selected for the Southern Railway hockey team, hospital sources and relatives said.

M.Govindan, his relative and vice president of Tamil Nadu Malayali Scheduled Tribes Peravai, said the family came forward to donate his organs.

“His sisters and his mother, also a Railway employee, wanted to donate Manimaran’s organs and also raise awareness on organ donation. We distributed organ donation forms to his friends who came to pay homage and many of them, who were his college friends, signed the forms pledging to donate their organs,” Mr.Govindan told The Hindu .

“We are very grateful to the family for not only donating Manimaran’s organs but also contributing to raise awareness on organ donation,” said Karthick Sivakumar, Managing Director, Cethar Hospitals.