82-yr-old woman donates organs

New Delhi: January 29, 2009 - Even at her death bed, 82-year-old Gyanant Kaur did not forget the lessons of kindness and sharing she learnt way back in school. She became one of the oldest woman in India to donate her organs after her death.

Widow of an honorary lieutenant in the Indian Army, Late Tarlok Singh, Gyanant had been admitted at the Army Hospital (research and referral) for sometime now and had expressed her desire to donate her eyes and liver to needy patients after her death.

On Tuesday, she breathed her last at the hospital and as instructed, her family gave their consent for retrieving her organs after her death, said a defence ministry official. This is the the third multiple organ donation at the hospital this year and the 18th since the organ donation program started in the armed forces in April 2007.

Gyanant's liver was donated to a serving army officer who is undergoing treatment for a terminal illness due to which his liver has stopped functioning. Her eyes were donated to two visually challenged patients in the hospital who had suffered severe damage to their corneas. Doctors at the hospital expressed happiness because Gyanant's donation had become an example to other patients. "Her family was very supportive of her decision and said that this way, she could live through the people who receive her organs,'' said a doctor at Army Hospital.

The Armed Forces Organ Retrieval and Transplantation Authority started the organ donation programme in 2007 and over 3,000 armed forces personnel have already pledged their organs for donation in the event of a comatose vegetative state orbrain dead. The authority has also been organising regular awareness programmes to encourage more people to donate their organs after their death so that they can be used to treat others' ailments.

Aravind T

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