Girl who donated liver to father loses battle of life

SUKKUR: A girl, who donated her liver to her father to save his life, herself lost the battle of life on the International Women's Day.

A 20-year-old BSc student, Muqaddas, resident of Raja Ram, Shujabad, Punjab, donated 60 per cent of her liver to save her 50-year-old father Khalil Ahmed’s life, but she herself could not fight death.

Ahmed had been suffering from liver ailment for quite a long time and he was brought to the Liver and Kidney Transplant Unit of Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Khairpur, where doctors after conducting investigation suggested a liver transplant to save Ahmed's life.

Muqaddas agreed to donate her liver to her father and doctors completed all investigation of the recipient and the donor.

Doctors said Khalil Ahmed was stable after transplant, however, his daughter lost the battle of life after several days.

An uncle of Muqaddas said her condition deteriorated during the medical procedure but the doctors did not inform them, adding: “The doctors told us two days later that the young girl had died and we should take Muqaddas' body”.

Muqaddas’ uncle demanded from the Sindh government to conduct an inquiry into how the donor died so as to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

However, Director GIMS Captain (retd) Rahim Bakhsh Bhatti claimed that there was no negligence on the part of the doctors as liver transplant happens to be a very risky procedure, so sometimes the recipient or the donor might die.

Dr Abdul Wahab Dogar, Programme Director, Liver Transplant Unit, said the recipient was stable, however, after 10 days of the procedure the donor died due to obstruction in small intestine.

He said their unit had performed 1,200 liver transplants in the history of the country, adding 90 per cent of the procedures remained successful.