This 76-Year-Old Nurse, Flown in From Dubai, Saved Lives Even in Death!
This 76-year-old former nurse at Safdarjung hospital before dying expressed her wish to donate her organs, including her skin, to her family.
All her life, retired nurse late Shashi Bala Gupta spent nursing those in need of medical care the most.
Shashi suffered an unfortunate cardiac arrest and irreversible brain damage and was declared critical last week in Dubai. And even though she’s gone, she continues to live on through her last wish, her family fulfilled.
This 76-year-old former nurse at Safdarjung hospital before dying expressed her wish to donate her organs, including her skin, to her family reported the Times of India.
Shashi’s last dream to save lives even in death was fulfilled by her family when they flew her down from Dubai in a critical state to New Delhi last Saturday.
Speaking to the publication her son, Naveen Gupta had “It is difficult to donate organs in Dubai due to the legalities involved. But we had to fulfil our mother’s last wish, so we flew her to Delhi.”
After being declared brain dead on Sunday at Max Hospital in Saket, her liver donation saved the life of a 55-year-old woman struggling with liver failure.
While her corneas have been preserved, her skin has been sent to Safdarjung for grafting purposes for burn victims.
Her decision to donate her skin was influenced by the struggles burn patients suffered due to unavailability of skin grafts, she saw firsthand during her posting at the burns unit of Safdarjung hospital.
Even while she was alive, she protested against her family’s wishes, and donated one of her kidneys to a family doctor and neighbour who suffered kidney failure in 1998.
“We kept protesting, but our mother remained steadfast. She donated one of her kidneys to save the doctor and kept telling us that post-death her only wish was that her organs should be donated,” Naveen told the publication.
Read more: Donate Life: What You Need To Know About Organ Donation in India
Dr Sujeet Jha at Max hospital received a call from the family on Friday where he was informed that the doctors in Dubai had given up on Shashi’s case, and therefore the family had decided to airlift her to Delhi for organ donation.
“I have never heard anything like this before. It is an overwhelming experience to know a person and her family who is willing to make this effort to save other lives,” Dr Jha told TOI.
Shashi’s family continues to celebrate her life and hopes her selflessness inspires many more. “There are many more people willing to donate organs. My mother’s act would inspire them even further to do so,” Naveen told the publication.
Feature Image credit: TOI
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