Gujarat: Navsari suicide victim’s organs to give life to others

SURAT: Organs of a 20-year-old brain dead girl from Navsari is all set to give life to others.
Disha Naik, a resident of Gandevi taluka in Navsari and a third-year student of Navsari’s SS Agarwal institute of physiotherapy, will be the first case of organ donation after the lockdown in Surat. Her vital organs including two kidneys, eyes and liver were harvested for transplants on Saturday.
Naik, daughter of a farmer had tried to end life by hanging herself with the ceiling fan due to unknown reasons on June 16. She was rushed to the SIDS hospital in Surat where her CT scan report showed severe swelling on her brain as the blood and oxygen supply had stopped due to the suicidal hanging.
After five days of observation and treatment, the doctors declared her brain dead and contacted the city-based NGO, Donate Life that counsels people for organ donation.
Nilesh Mandlewala, founder of Donate Life and member of State Advisory Committee for Organ and Tissue (SACOT) transplant told TOI, “This was the first organ donation post the lockdown imposed on March 25. After I received a call from the hospital, I asked them to get the Covid-19 test done which turned out to be negative. So we immediately contacted the Ahmedabad-based Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC) for organ donation.”
The girl’s father Mani Naik (50) and other family members had to be provide counselling for six days to convince them to go for organ donation, said Mandlewala.
“It was very tough to convince Disha’s parents to donate her organs. But, ultimately we were successful in convincing them after six days of counselling,” he added.
“Our daughter wanted to become a physiotherapist and serve the people. She is lying on the hospital bed without movement and was declared brain-dead. We want her organs to save the lives of those who are in need of urgent transplantation. At least now my daughter will live in the bodies of other people,” said Mani Naik.
Disha’s kidneys and liver were donated to the Ahmedabad-based IKDRC and her eyes were donated to the Surat-based Lokdrashti Eye bank.