Ernakulam General Hospital in Kerala to conduct its first heart transplant; organ to go to Nepali girl

The General Hospital (GH), Ernakulam, in Kerala is all set to conduct its first heart transplant on Monday (December 22, 2025). With the transplant, the Ernakulam GH, will become the first general hospital in India to perform a heart transplant surgery, according to the authorities. The heart, retrieved from Shibu, a Kollam native who was declared brain dead at Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, will be transplanted to Nepali national Durga Kami, also known as Arpana, who has been seeking medical help in India for close to a year. An eight-member team of doctors from the GH, comprising Dr. George Valuran, Dr. Paul Thomas and Dr. Geo Paul, had left for Thiruvananthapuram Monday morning to retrieve the heart. “Since several organs are being harvested, this will take some time as the heart is retrieved in the end,” said a source at the hospital. To be airlifted to Kochi The organ harvest surgery began at 11 am and is expected to be completed by 1:30 p.m. The heart will be airlifted to Kochi and is expected to arrive after 2:30 p.m. The heart transplant is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Ms. Kami, 22, was hospitalised at the GH on Sunday night to prepare her for the transplant. Since HLA and blood group matchings were successful, the doctors had been waiting with bated breath to see whether the heart was viable for the transplant. Shibu, a victim of a road accident, had been on ventilator support for the past seven days. The donor’s heart, kidneys, cornea, liver and skin will be transplanted to different patients, said Dr. Shahirsha, medical superintendent of the GH. One kidney and skin will be donated to the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram; the other kidney to Travancore Medical College, Kollam, and cornea to Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Thiruvananthapuram. The liver was slated to be donated to a private hospital but since the transplant recipient is unwell, it may be donated to the next person on the priority list, said a hospital source. Published - December 22, 2025 01:05 pm IST

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