Rela Hospital Gives a Cheerful Send-Off to Its 1st Heart Transplant Patient

March 17, 2021

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Rela Hospital Gives a Cheerful Send-Off to Its 1st Heart Transplant Patient

Harvested heart transported across 500kms from Madurai to Chennai, which enabled this successful transplant

Chennai, March 17^th, 2021: A historic feat for Rela Hospital. A large team of heart transplant experts and the cardiac specialist team from Rela KIMS Heart and Lung Transplant Institute (including surgeons, anaesthetists, perfusionists and nurses), gave a cheerful send-off to their 1st heart transplant patient. The recipient, Mrs. Sujatha, a 36-year-old housewife got a new lease of life with the heart donated by a brain-dead youth, flown from Madurai to Chennai in a record time of 45-minutes.

Early in Nov 2020, after an assessment at Rela Hospital, Mrs. Sujatha’s family was told that the best chance of getting well again was to undergo a heart transplant surgery. On 26^th Feb 2021, Rela Hospital received an organ alert call from TRANSTAN (Transplant Authority of Tamilnadu), where this lucky patient got a donor whose organ matched her condition and she underwent a successful heart transplant on Feb 27^th. Since then, she has made a remarkable recovery and regained her life . Today, she is able to do her daily routine like getting dressed, walking, bending, and eating on her own, without any dependency.

“Being breathless was hard and I couldn’t walk for long; climbing stairs was a killer, walking four steps and I’d have to rest. Sometimes I could hardly talk and was so breathless. My family had a tough time managing me. I felt like a burden to them, I never went out of the house then, I was slowly giving up. I am extremely grateful to my donor’s family for this miraculous life which they have given me. None of this would be possible without the generosity of the donor’s family”, said Mrs. Sujatha.

Rela KIMS Heart and Lung Transplant Institute, said “the patient was critically ill and was at the end-stage of heart failure. Heart transplant was her only option. The surgery was successful and she made a remarkable recovery. She started walking on the 2nd day after the surgery. From the 4th day, she started walking on her own and having a normal diet”

Rela Hospital also thanked the civil authorities, the police officers and their teams in Madurai and Chennai for creating the green corridor that helped the donated organ reach Rela Hospital in a record time.

Speaking at the meet, Prof. Mohamed Rela, Chairman – Rela Hospital said, “This is a tremendous accomplishment. Earlier, Patients used to die each day while waiting for a matching organ. The challenge is finding the right organ for the right person at the right time. Ideally, we need to transplant them before they get too sick and inoperable”.

About Rela Hospital:

Rela Hospital, an International Medical facility, is a quaternary care hospital dedicated to fostering and responding to the needs of a diverse patient population. The hospital provides high-quality healthcare with state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities and experienced, caring medical professionals.

Rela Hospital is designed to provide multi-specialty care with a special focus on multi-organ transplantation and critically ill patients. In addition to quaternary care in all specialties, the hospital is committed to providing day-to-day “primary and secondary care” to patients. Rela Hospital is a multi-super specialty hospital in a sprawling landscape of 36 acres located in Chromepet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

The facility, with 450 beds inclusive of 130 critical-care beds, 14 operating rooms, and sophisticated reference laboratories and radiology services, is conveniently located close to the road, rail, and air transport.
Rela Hospital is led and managed by world-renowned doctors who are committed to healthcare.
Rela Hospital offers a wide spectrum of clinical care, education, and research.
Rela Hospital is driven by patient needs, comfort, and trust.