Thiruvananthapuram: The organs of seven-year-old Lokineni Yashwanth, who was declared brain dead following a road accident, will help save the lives of six patients.
Yashwanth’s two kidneys, liver, two corneas and heart valve were donated. One of his kidneys was transported from Thiruvananthapuram to Kozhikode through a special green corridor arranged by the Kerala Police on the instructions of Health Minister K Muraleedharan and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.
The kidney was transported from KIMSHEALTH Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram by ambulance at 11.19 am on Monday and reached Iqraa Hospital in Kozhikode at around 5.15 pm. It will be transplanted into a 17-year-old boy from Kannur who is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
His second kidney will be transplanted into a four-year-10-month-old girl from Vijayapuram in Kottayam who is undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. His liver has been allocated to a 17-year-old girl from Kalluvathukkal in Kollam who is being treated at KIMSHEALTH. The heart valve has been sent to the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, while the two corneas have been handed over to the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology.
Yashwanth was the son of Lokineni Raghu and Soumya Papparao, originally from Yadamma Nagar in Hyderabad’s Tirumalagiri district. Raghu is a Scientific Officer at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project. The family currently resides at Anuvijay Township in Chettikulam, Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
The Class 5 student suffered severe head injuries after he was struck by an ambulance while crossing the road on his bicycle inside the Anuvijay Township around 7 pm on June 29. He was initially taken to a nearby healthcare centre before being shifted to KIMSHEALTH Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram later that night for specialised treatment.
Despite intensive care, his condition did not improve and he was declared brain dead at 10.38 am on July 5. In the midst of their grief, his parents consented to donate his organs.
Health Minister K Muraleedharan expressed gratitude to Yashwanth’s parents for their decision to donate their son’s organs despite their immense personal loss. He paid tribute to the child and thanked the Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (K-SOTTO), the police, doctors, healthcare workers and members of the public for helping complete the organ retrieval and transplantation process.
K-SOTTO coordinated the allocation of the donated organs, while police personnel across multiple districts, with the support of the public, ensured the ambulance carrying the kidney reached Kozhikode without traffic delays.
