‘Kanwariyas’ (Lord Shiva devotees) during the Kanwar Yatra.
Credit: PTI Photo
A kanwar Yatra pilgrim who died in a road accident saved five lives when his family members decided to donate his organs, The Times of India reported.
25-year-old Sachin Khandelwal from Haryana was hit by a car in Roorkee on July 22 while he was on his way to fetch some water from the river Ganga.
He was admitted to AIIMS Rishikesh, but he slipped into a coma and passed away soon after. The doctors at the hospital approached his family who agreed to donate his organs.
A Green corridor was created between AIIMS Rishikesh and Dehradun airport, from where the organs were transported to other places.
Sachin's Kidneys, pancreas and liver were flown to Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh and Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in Delhi, where different patients received transplantation.
Moreover, two people in Uttarakhand received his corneas.
Pankaj Khandelwal, Sachin's younger brother told TOI, "It is said that one should complete at least two kanwar when we were very young.."
Executive director of AIIMS Rishikesh, Professor Dr Meenu Singh, said that this was also the first-ever cadaveric organ donation procedure in the hospital. "We not only achieved a milestone in advanced medical technology but also demonstrated remarkable capability in saving lives with administrative support.." ToI quoted Singh.
Quite a few instances of accidents involving Kanwariyas have been reported in the past few days.
In a tragic incident that occurred on August 1, five Kanwar Yatra pilgrims, including two minors, were electrocuted to death in Jharkhand's Latehar district when their vehicle came into contact with a high-tension overhead wire, police said.
In another incident, a 17-year-old kanwariya was killed in Gurugram, while two of his associates were critically injured when a speeding truck rammed into their motorcycle here early Wednesday, triggering protests by kanwariyas who blocked the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
(With PTI Inputs)