Vihangana Nuwanmini Ariyasinghe was loved by all:
Support from MGM Healthcare Hospital in Chennai:
Surgery marks turning point in Sri Lanka’s medical history:
Surgery conducted by local surgeons and Indian doctors:
On March 21, a student of Kurunegala Maliyadeva Girls’ School Vihangana Nuwanmini Ariyasinghe bid adieu to her earthly life after giving a new lease of life to seven others fighting to stay alive.
The daughter of Upul Ariyasinghe (58) and Wasanthi Kumari (53), 19-year-old Vihangana was also the youngest in the family of five. On the fateful day, Vihangana was declared brain dead due to a sudden illness but was able to save the lives of seven others by donating her organs to patients who were critically ill including an anesthesiologist.
Speaking to the Sunday Observer, Vihangana’s brother Tharuka Ariyasinghe said his sister fondly known as Batti among the family was much loved by all. Receiving her initial education at the Gajanaggama National School, Vihangana entered Maliyadeva Girls’ School for her Advanced Levels in the Commerce stream. “Returning home on the final day of the exam Batti said she was sure she would be able to enter University as our other sister,” he said.
According to her class teacher, Lakmini Samarakoon during her two years at the school she was known as a highly motivated and respectful student. “She was also extremely healthy and displayed no signs of any illness,” she said. “Though she was determined to do well in the exams she was always relaxed and happy. She would call me often. It is unbelievable she is no more,” Samarakoon said.
Samarakoon said hearing of her sudden illness, she along with others visited the hospital and chanted pirith wishing for Vihangana’s speedy recovery. “Even in the ICU she looked serene and beautiful as always,” she recalled. However, a cancerous growth in her brain eventually took her life.
Vihangana’s father Upul Ariyasinghe said his daughter was always very giving and seeking out ways to donate to the less fortunate. He said Vihangana had even suggested to her sister they should register to donate their organs on many occasions. Accordingly, after her being declared brain dead, her family decided to grant the necessary permission to harvest her organs to be transplanted into critically ill patients.
“Batti was always keen on carrying out meritorious deeds such as feeding stray animals. She also helped the less fortunate and liked to lend her hand to build temples as well as other Shramadana campaigns,” Ariyasinghe said. “Though I was devastated by her death, I recalled her wish to donate organs and decided to act according to her wishes,” he said.
Vihangana’s heart and lungs were transplanted to an anaesthesiologist who had fallen ill due to a coronary ailment. In fact, the transplant surgery of the two organs to a patient at once took place for the first time in the country’s history.
Accordingly, her kidneys, liver and eye tissues were also harvested and transplanted to other patients who are now recovering well.
The 18-hour surgery that gave life to an anaesthesiologist
By Subahshini Jayaratne
Vihangana Ariyasinghe gave life to seven others before leaving this world to her heavenly abode. Though transplant surgeries are commonplace in Sri Lanka’s hospitals it was for the first time in the country’s medical history recently that a heart and lungs were transplanted to a patient during the same surgical procedure. The heart and lungs donated by Ariyasinghe were thus transplanted to an anaesthesiologist in a risky surgery enabling the medical professionals to save her life.
The surgery was conducted by local surgeons with the support of Indian doctors. According to the Deputy Director General of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka Dr. Kumar Wickramasinghe, this surgery marks a turning point in Sri Lanka’s medical history.
Dr. Wickramasinghe said the surgery was able to save the life of an anaesthesiologist who was suffering from an incurable disease. “She had served in hospitals in Kantale and Colombo treating many patients. Her only chance of staying alive was by receiving such a transplant,” he said. The seriousness of her condition warranted that her heart also be transplanted along with her lungs if she was to survive the surgery.
While the medical professionals were always on the lookout for possible organ matches for her, the Ministry of Health had also made several policy decisions in preparation for the event they are able to secure the necessary organs for the life-saving surgery.
Support from MGM Healthcare Hospital in Chennai, India was received for the surgery while the necessary services and equipment were prepared with the support of the Minister of Health.
“We obtained necessary advice from the Indian doctors on patient aftercare in a specialised ICU as well,” he said. Many organs received previously had not been a match for the critically ill doctor till Vihangana’s donation came along.
Her organs had matched the doctor perfectly allowing for the surgery to go ahead.
The careful harvesting of the organs took place at the National Hospital in Colombo during an 18-hour surgery by a host of medical experts. Following the transplant, the fortunate doctor remains in the ICU and is now recovering after receiving a new lease on life.