Ayesha Rashan, 19, from Karachi, Pakistan, gained a new lease of life after undergoing heart transplant surgery at MGM Healthcare in Chennai. She said Rashan first traveled to India in 2019 with severe heart dysfunction and eventually suffered from heart failure.
According to NDTV, Rashan was on ECMO (a life support system for people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries that affect the heart or lungs). She underwent a complete heart transplant because the valve in her heart pump developed a leak. The report also said that the cost of her heart transplant surgery was over Rs 35 million, which was borne by the hospital and Chennai-based Aishwaryam Trust.
Dr. KR Balakrishnan, Director of the Heart and Lung Transplant Institute, and Dr. Suresh Rao, Co-Director of the Institute, learned about the emergency situation and financial support required by Rashan. They said the boy received the heart immediately because there were no competing claims. Otherwise, foreigners will not be able to obtain organs. She received a heart from a 69-year-old brain-dead patient in Delhi.
“She (Rashan) is like my daughter. Every life matters,” the doctors said.
Rashan and his mother Sanobar expressed their gratitude to the Indian government and highlighted the lack of medical facilities in Pakistan. They reported that Pakistani doctors said there were no transplant facilities available.
Rashan plans to return to Pakistan and dreams of becoming a fashion designer.
In 2018, Pakistan's field hockey goalie Mansoor Ahmed, who won the World Cup, requested a heart transplant in India. Ahmed, 49 at the time, suffered complications from a pacemaker and stent implanted in his heart.
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Date first uploaded: April 25, 2024 13:48 IST