Odisha’s Youngest Organ Donor Gives Life to Two Patients, Marking a Historic Moment

Bhubaneswar: In a deeply emotional yet inspiring act of compassion, the parents of Janmesh Lenka, a 16-month-old child, made the courageous decision to donate their son’s organs, offering a second chance at life to two patients in need. Janmesh, who became the youngest organ donor in Odisha, had been receiving treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar after suffering from foreign body aspiration and choking.

The incident unfolded on February 12, when Janmesh was admitted to the Pediatric Department of AIIMS Bhubaneswar under the care of Dr. Krishna Mohan Gulla. Despite immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and intensive medical intervention to stabilize him over the course of two weeks, Janmesh was declared brain-dead on March 1.

Recognizing the opportunity to offer life-saving gifts to others, the medical team at AIIMS Bhubaneswar counselled the grief-stricken parents about organ donation. With immense strength, the parents made the selfless decision to donate their son’s organs, providing a beacon of hope for others.

Following the consent, a multidisciplinary team of surgeons and transplant coordinators at AIIMS Bhubaneswar swiftly facilitated the organ retrieval and transplantation process. Janmesh’s liver was successfully retrieved by the gastro-surgery team led by Dr. Brahmadutt Patnaik and was transported to the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in New Delhi, where it was transplanted into a child suffering from end-stage liver failure.

Janmesh’s kidneys were retrieved and transplanted en-bloc into a single adolescent patient at AIIMS Bhubaneswar in a complex and highly specialized procedure led by Dr. Prasant Nayak from the Urology Department. The en-bloc kidney transplantation is only the second of its kind in the state, highlighting the medical expertise involved in the procedure.

Master Janmesh Lenka’s case is significant not only as the youngest organ donor in Odisha but also because of the historic en-bloc kidney transplant. This highly specialized surgical approach involves transplanting both kidneys from a pediatric donor into a single recipient, making the procedure an exceptional achievement in the state’s medical history.