A two-year-old boy's death in Bengaluru has saved the life of another boy from Russia. The recipient of a donor heart, two-year-old baby from Moscow has become the youngest heart transplant patient in India providing a ray of hope to hundreds of other children suffering from heart failure.

The Russian child  was suffering from restrictive cardiomyopathy, a rare condition where the heart muscle thickens and loses its ability to pump blood properly and leading to very high lung pressure. If left untreated, he would not have survived. Heart transplant was the only solution for this boy from Moscow.

After considering all options in various countries, the mother decided to come to Chennai, India.

On arrival, the baby’s  condition was quite critical, with an extremely low heart function and high levels of creatinine, due to poor kidney function. He was immediately listed on the transplant list at both the state level and the regional level so that he could get a suitable heart at the earliest. During the wait for a heart his condition was deteriorating and he suffered a stroke, which he soon recovered from.

It was after a wait of one and a half months, that  help came from Bengaluru when the parents of a two-year-old boy, who was declared brain dead agreed to donate his organs. Racing against the clock, a green corridor was created for the ambulance as the heart was then air-lifted from Bengaluru to Chennai in 47 minutes.

The surgery was carried out successfully on 19th December, 2014. In view of high lung pressure, the new heart took about 10 days to adjust after which he recovered rapidly and is now like any other two-year-old his age smiling, laughing and playing with his mother.

As per the treating surgeon, "The biggest challenge in pediatric transplant is to get a donor. Worldwide there is a huge shortage of pediatric donors. Several times a suitable donor is available in a remote location. So transporting the organ becomes a challenge especially in a country like ours where we have huge infrastructural issues. This one was from Bangalore. So we had to look at road transport from the hospital in Bangalore to the airport. And then we could hire an air ambulance."

It is not only India's youngest heart transplant, but also highlights the need to raise awareness about pediatric organ donation in the country.

To know more about the latest update on this treatment protocol and treating centers offering the same as well as for getting your reports reviewed, post a query