'Indian Heart' Gives New Lease Of Life To Pakistani Teenager
The heart of a 69-year-old man who passed away earlier this year will continue to?live,?across the?border,?in Pakistan on a teenager. 19-year-old Ayesha Rashan from Karachi, Pakistan?who?had been battling heart disease for ten?years?is all set to live?a normal?life, with an Indian heart. Ayesha underwent a successful heart transplant in?Chennai¡¯s?MGM Healthcare and was discharged from the hospital last week.
Living with failing heart for 10 years
Ayesha's?family first brought her to India in 2019 when she suffered a cardiac arrest and went into heart failure.
They consulted Senior cardiac surgeon Dr. K R Balakrishnan at the Malar Hospital in?Chennai's?Adyar, who recommended a heart transplant for the teenager.
The family was hesitant as they were not able to afford the various Rs 35 lakhs that would cost for the transplant surgery.
Doctors advise transplant
So?the?doctors fitted her with a mechanical pump that helps the left ventricle pump blood. But this did not last long?and?in 2023?the?right side of her heart also failed,?leaving her family with no other choice but to undergo?the transplant.
Heart from Delhi man
It was not just the high cost of the surgery that her family and doctors had to deal?with,?but also regulations.?
According to the Health Ministry?guidelines, an organ can be allotted to a foreign national only if there is no Indian recipient available to receive it at that time.
But luckily for Ayesha, in?January?her family got a call from the doctors that the heart of a 69-year-old man was available for transplant.
Hospital performs transplant for free?
The organ, harvested from a brain-dead patient in?Delhi?was successfully transplanted on Ayesha by the doctors at MGM Healthcare in Chennai, who did the procedure free of cost.
Chennai-based Aishwaryam Trust also provided financial assistance to the family during their stay in India.?
Ayesha?who?has been discharged from the hospital and given the green light by doctors to fly back home, hopes to become a fashion designer one day.
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