New Delhi, Nov 4: Karachi resident Shehary Ali Sayyed had just sat down to study Sep 26 when he collapsed and was admitted to a local hospital in a coma with liver failure. The 12-year-old has now got a new lease of life with a successful liver transplant in a Delhi hospital.
After days of unconsciousness, Shehary found himself on the bed of the Apollo hospital here and after treatment, is all set to go back to Pakistan.
“Shehary was very critical when he was brought to the hospital. His liver had failed, the toxins had hit his brain and he had to be airlifted to Delhi,” said Subhash Gupta, chief liver transplant surgeon at the hospital.
“When he was brought here Oct 3, we decided to conduct a liver transplant within 3 days considering his pathetic condition. Since his mother was the donor, we did not have any issues with the donor-recipient blood group compatibility,” Gupta said, adding that Shehary is the 200th Pakistani patient at the hospital who became the recipient of a transplant.
Shehary was very weak, anaemic, had a bloated belly and yellow eyes when he was brought to hospital. A live liver donation was conducted after Shehary’s mother donated a portion of her liver, which is a organ that regenerates itself in a span of 8-12 weeks.
“In the first few days after operation even when regeneration is not complete, the half liver is enough to maintain normal donor functions due to the immense reserves in the liver,” said Anupan Sibal, group medical director and senior paediatric gastroenterologist at Apollo. “The success rate of liver transplants is 90 percent.”
“A medical visa was issued for Shehary on compassionate grounds and we decided to go for an emergency transplant,” Sibal added.
Shehary, who lives with his parents in Karachi’s middle-class neighbourhood of Bahadurabad, suffered from mild jaundice in 2008. Within a year, the disease later developed to chronic liver disorder and the school-goer began facing problems.
The family is now grateful and overwhelmed by the hospitality and humility that they take back as part of memories from India. The transplant cost the Shujaat family Rs.15 lakh.
“When Shehary fell sick, he did not even know he was being taken to India. We just came with faith… and now we carry back so many memories back to Pakistan,” his mother, Zainab Shujaat said.
Shehary, who had his face covered with a mask to avoid infections, looked at hospital staff with curiosity. The 12-year-old says he will always remember how he celebrated his 12th birthday at the hospital Oct 24.
–IANS
