For the first time since its launch, the Hyderabad Metro was on Tuesday used for the fast, uninterrupted transport of a live organ for transplant, the heart of a 45-year-old brain-dead patient from Kamineni Hospital in LB Nagar to Apollo Hospital, Jubilee Hills on an exclusive passenger-free Metro train.
A special train was arranged for the purpose, which covered 21 kilometres in less than 30 minutes. Hyderabad Metro Rail created a special green corridor, besides suspending other trains on the route for a while on Tuesday afternoon between Nagole and Jubilee Hills to move a live heart from Kamineni hospitals in LB Nagar to Apollo hospitals in Jubilee Hills, to save a critical patient in need of an urgent transplant. Prior information was given to passengers and the staff to ensure there is no inconvenience and proper coordination, Metro officials said. A team from Apollo hospitals started their journey with the live organ around 4.40 pm, and the train crossed 16 stations in 30 minutes. A drive to the destination by road would have taken more than an hour. “This is the first time that a dedicated special train was run to transport a heart to save a life,” said HMR managing director N.V.S. Reddy. A team of medical experts exclusively travelled in the special train with the heart.
The heart was harvested from a 45-year-old male farmer from Aregudem, Mothkur, Nalgonda. He suffered from brain stem death due to acute hemorhagic bleeding and was declared brain-dead at Kamineni Hospitls, L.B. Nagar. His heart was harvested at the private hospital and was transplanted on a patient at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills.
