Parents of a 6-year-old Indian girl Roli Prajapati, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, have donated their daughter’s organs at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.
On April 28, around 9 pm, Roli’s father, Harinarayan Prajapati, heard a sound that was like a bursting tyre. However, soon he noticed that his daughter who was lying on a cot near him was bleeding from the head. Roli was was rushed from her village near Pusta to the hospital with a head shot wound.
She soon went into coma due to the severity of the injury and was referred to Safdarjung Hospital. Here, the gunshot injury was confirmed in CT scan and a bullet was found in Roli’s head. After desperate attempts to save the little girl, the doctors declared her brain dead. The parents decided to donate the organs and this kind of act has saved as many as five lives thus making Roli the youngest organ donor in the history of AIIMS.
Senior AIIMS neurosurgeon Dr Deepak Gupta who is also Dr Gupta is also looking after the organ donation activities at JPNATC Trauma Centre told ANI:
“The brain was totally damaged. She arrived at the hospital in almost a brain dead condition. So, we talked to the family members. We diagnosed her to be having brain death. Subsequently, our team of doctors sat with the parents and talked about organ donation. We counselled the parents and sought their consent if they would be willing to donate organs to save the lives of other children.”
Talking about donating his daughter’s organs, Roli’s father Harnarayan Pratjapati told ANI: “Dr Gupta and his team counselled us for organ donation that our child could save other lives. We thought about it and decided that she would be alive in other people’s lives and give others reason to smile.”
AIIMS started an organ donation facility in 1994 and never had such a young donor till date. The organs for donation are Roli’s liver, kidneys, both corneas and heart valve. Dr Gupta added: “We were very grateful to the parents for taking this step despite not knowing much about organ donation. They understood the importance of saving lives.”
Mother of Roli, Poonam Devi, believes that her daughter has left them but managed to save the lives of other people. Roli’s kidneys were transplanted into a child at AIIMS and the liver was allocated to Indraprastha Apollo hospital for transplant into a child from Lucknow.
Uttar Pradesh police have launched an investigation into Roli’s case but the police are yet to recover any firearm. During the initial probe by UP police, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Harish Chander, noted that it emerged that the gunshot was fired from within the house.
