A 67-year-old Spanish woman touring Mumbai reportedly saved the lives of 4 Mumbaikars and a foreign national after her family decided to donate her organs following her death at the Jaslok hospital in the city.
According to a report by The Indian Express, Teresa Maria Fernandez was a tourist and suffered a haemorrhagic stroke in Mumbai on January 5. Doctors said Fernandez remained unconscious till January 11 when the first apnea test was done after which she was declared brain-dead, reports Hindustan Times.
Upon hearing the news, Fernandez’s children – her son and daughter rushed to Mumbai. Her daughter was reportedly a doctor herself and told the doctors at the Mumbai hospital that her mother always wanted to donate her organs when she died.
According to the report, Fernandez’s lung, liver and kidneys were all given to Indian patients and her heart was given to a Lebanese national living in Chennai. Her bones and tendons too were reportedly donated. Her liver helped save the life of a 54-year-old doctor from Mumbai.
According to the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), Mumbai witnessed bone donation after a gap of five months with Fernandez’s donation, per HT.
Fernandez has also become the first donor from beyond Asia and the second foreign national to donate organs in India, reports Mid Day.
Fernandez reportedly recently retired from a hospital where she was attached to the pharmacy and microbiology departments, per Times of India.
Neurosurgeon Dr Sudheer Ambekar told The Indian Express, people should learn from the family who without hesitation donated the organs to unknown people in a foreign country. “We didn’t even need to counsel them for the donation as they themselves wanted to donate. They showed how humanity is not restricted within geographical borders by setting an example for all of us,” he said.
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