Mathew Achadan, the recipient of Kerala's first airlifted organ transplant, has passed away after living for over a decade post-surgery. The 57-year-old underwent a heart transplant in 2015, with the organ being flown from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi in under an hour.
Achadan's family said he had a cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Chalakudy, Thrissur district. Dr. Jo Joseph, a consultant cardiologist at Lisie Hospital, who was part of the transplant team, remembered Achadan's remarkable journey.
'We had overcome a lot of challenges to perform his transplant surgery. At the time, the chances of him surviving at least a year were only 50%. But post-surgery, he went on to live for 10 more years,' Dr. Joseph said.
Achadan's transplant was a historic milestone, marking the first time an organ was flown by an air ambulance for transplant in Kerala. The heart was donated by S Neelakanta Sharma, a 46-year-old lawyer who was declared brain dead after a fall at home.
Studies show that the survival rate dips to 50% 10 years after an organ transplant. Despite this, Achadan's case was an exception, and his family and doctors are proud of the surgery that extended his lifespan.
