IAF airlifts organs from Pune to Delhi, helps save three lives | Pune News
Pune: A team of doctors from Army Hospital (Research and Referral) flew in on an Indian Air Force’s Super Hercules aircraft on Friday night to collect and transport a liver and two kidneys from a 59-year-old brain-dead woman in Pune to New Delhi for transplantation, after her family generously consented to organ donation. The donor, mother of a serving soldier, was declared brain-dead at Command Hospital on on June 17. “The team retrieved a liver, two kidneys and two corneas in under four hours before taking off to Delhi, where the liver was transplanted into a civilian patient. The two kidneys were transplanted into two serving soldiers. The donor saved three lives,” said a senior doctor from Command Hospital.A green air corridor was created for the aircraft to facilitate the airlift of live organs from Pune to Delhi. “Under the green air corridor protocol, the aircraft gets priority for take-off and landing. Besides, all ground clearances, including radars, get an alert in advance for the smooth flying of the aircraft,” a senior IAF officer told TOI.“This humanitarian mission was enabled by seamless coordination between Armed Forces Medical Services and IAF, ensuring that the organs reached in time to save multiple lives. The noble act of the donor family stands as a testament to selfless sacrifice, even in the face of personal loss. Such missions highlight the Armed Forces’ unwavering dedication not just to national security, but also to humanity,” stated a statement issued by the Southern Command through Defence PRO, Pune.The Command Hospital has successfully conducted organ transplants in the last two years. “The perfect coordination with all the agencies, including police, was necessary to carry out the operation. Over the years, we have established a standard operating procedure,” the officer said.IAF SAVES LIVESJuly 31, 2015: IAF transport a kidney and a liver from Pune to Delhi to save a 56-year-old ex-serviceman with liver cancer and a jawan suffering from kidney failureFeb 11, 2023: A 40-year-old brain-dead veteran’s heart was airlifted from New Delhi to Pune in an IAF plane and transplanted into the 29-year-old wife of a serving soldier at the Army Institute of Cardio-Thoracic SciencesFeb 23, 2024: An IAF Dornier aircraft was used to airlift a team of doctors from the Army Research and Referral Hospital to retrieve a liver from Pune to Delhi to save the life of a veteran
