Australian Citizen Donates Organs in Pune After Being Declared Brain Dead; Four Lives Saved

Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 11th November 2025: In a landmark development, the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC), Pune, recorded its first-ever organ donation by a foreign national, an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holder. The donation took place on November 3, 2025, at Aditya Birla Hospital, marking a significant milestone in India’s organ transplant movement.

The donor was a 46-year-old woman from Lonavala, Maharashtra, who lived and worked in Melbourne, Australia. She and her family—Australian citizens and OCI card holders—had come to India to celebrate Diwali. During their visit, she suddenly developed a severe headache and was rushed to Aditya Birla Hospital in Pune. Despite extensive medical treatment, she was declared brain dead.

Her husband and brother displayed remarkable courage and compassion by consenting to donate her organs. However, as the donor was a foreign national, the organ donation process required formal approval from the embassy of the donor’s country—in this case, Australia.

Aditya Birla Hospital immediately reached out to the Australian Embassy via email to seek permission. As the incident occurred on a Sunday, a non-working day, obtaining the required clearance posed a major challenge.

Thanks to the prompt coordination and tireless efforts of the hospital administration, the HR department, transplant team members, Dr. Urvi Shukla, Transplant Coordinator Vaishali Pawar, the donor’s husband, the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), ROTTO authorities, and ZTCC Pune representatives Dr. Sheetal Mahajani and Dr. Vrishali Patil, the necessary approval was successfully secured. Members of the Authorisation Committee also played a crucial role in ensuring the process complied with all regulations.

Following the approval, organ allocation was carried out as per the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (SOTTO) guidelines. ZTCC Pune facilitated the distribution as follows: one kidney was allocated to Dr. D. Y. Patil Hospital, Pune; the second kidney to Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, Pune; and the liver to Dr. D. Y. Patil Hospital, Pune. The donor’s heart was allocated to H. N. Reliance Hospital, Mumbai.

A Green Corridor was swiftly arranged by ZTCC Pune between Aditya Birla Hospital and H. N. Reliance Hospital, enabling the heart’s timely transport to Mumbai for transplantation. All four recipients are reported to be stable and recovering well.

According to ZTCC Pune data, from January 1 to November 10, 2025, a total of 66 brain stem death (BSD) donors were converted into retrievals, leading to 186 successful organ transplants in the Pune zone. These included 106 kidney transplants, 59 liver transplants, 11 lung transplants, 4 heart transplants, and a few combined transplants—one kidney-pancreas, one heart-lung, and one kidney-heart.