A Hero in Life & Death: Family of 27-Year-Old Brain Dead Kerala Man Donates His Organs, Saves 8 Lives

Touched by this gesture, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Health Minister KK Shailaja appreciated the family for taking this humanitarian step in the time of grief. 

Kollam: When he was alive, 27-year-old Anujith saved hundreds of lives by averting a major train mishap in 2010, an act that rightly won him the tag of a hero. Now after 10 years, Anujith is no more as he died after a bike accident on July 14 near Kottarakkara in Kerala’s Kollam.

However, heroes never die! Even in his death, the youth turned saviour for eight persons as his family donated his organs after he wKollamas declared brain dead on July 17. His wife Princy and sister Ajalya came forward to donate his heart, kidneys, eyes, small intestine and hands to save the lives of eight persons.

As per The New Indian Express, his heart was flown in from KIMS Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram to Lisie Hospital in Kochi on Tuesday where 55-year-old Sunny Joseph, a native of Tripunithura, was awaiting a new life on the operating table.

The organ donation was made through ‘Mrithasanjeevani’ – Kerala Network for Organ Sharing (KNOS) of the state government.  As directed by the chief minister, a Pawan Hans AS 35 Dauphin helicopter rented by the state government, carried out the mission of collecting Anujith’s organs from the Hyatt Hotel in Ernakulam on Tuesday.

Touched by this gesture, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Health Minister KK Shailaja appreciated the family for taking this humanitarian step in the time of grief.

Anujith who worked as a driver at a private enterprise had recently joined as a salesman with a supermarket at Kottarakkara following the lockdown. He is survived by his wife Princy and a three-year-old son.

In 2010, Anujith had made headlines for his timely intervention to avoid a train accident. Anujith and his friends waved a red basket to alert the loco pilot on the railway track and ended up saving hundreds of lives.