It\u2019s been an year since she underwent a heart transplant.( In fact, the first child in Mumbai to get a heart at just the age of eight.) Since her life was saved by doctors, Madhavi Vishwakarma has taken the resolution to become a cardiologist herself!<\/p>\n
Madhavi- a class four student of Lakshdham High School, was diagnosed with a heart ailment in 2016. The ailment meant that her heart functioned only at 20% of its full capacity.<\/p>\n
When Madhavi\u2019s family began looking for treatment options, they were told that heart transplant was the only way they could save her.<\/p>\n
It was the death of a seven year old boy in January 2016 which saved Madhavi. According to Smita Viswakarma, the girl\u2019s mother, \u201cIt was nothing short of a miracle.\u201d She has even kept the picture of Dyan Udani- the heart donor, in the prayer room in her home.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the incident, the whole Vishwakarma family has pledged to donate organs.<\/p>\n
Waiting for the donor<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2015, Madhavi had frequent coughing fits and she underwent treatment with multiple doctors. The girl\u2019s body weight dropped from 43 to 23 kilograms.<\/p>\n Her treatment began in Fortis Hospital by October 2015. In January 2016, realizing that heart transplant was the sole solution, the kid got registered in the waiting list.<\/p>\n In pediatrics, heart transplants are rare given the lesser number of brain stem deaths among children. However, in Madhavi\u2019s case, just a week after she was registered, Dyan Udani had a stroke and passed away in Mumbai.<\/p>\n Dyan, who lived in Syndey had come down to visit his grandparents on his vacation.<\/p>\n He was about to board a plane to Australia when the stroke hit him. He was rushed to the Hinduja Hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cDyan had heard about organ donation in school and would keep telling his parents he wants to donate,\u201d Smita said.<\/p>\n The boy suffered a brain clot. When he died, his parents didn\u2019t hesitate to donate his organs. Smita recalls meeting his mother, saying how the two could only weep, at a loss for words.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was as if he was god sent,\u201d said Smita.<\/p>\n Both the donor\u2019s and recipient\u2019s blood group and height were exact matches- something that made the transplant compatible and easier.<\/p>\n Back to being active <\/strong><\/p>\n One year since the transplant, Madhavi is back to her active schedule- involving dancing, something that she had earlier discontinued because of poor health. Now, the 9 year old claims she wants to become a cardiologist so that she could help others.<\/p>\n Her family says that she is back to her active self. Last month, for instance, Madhavi even participated in a marathon conducted by the Wadia Hospital.<\/p>\n In Mumbai alone, there are three kids like Madhavi who are on the wait list for heart transplant. One of them is admitted to Fortis Hospital while a four year old needs hospitalization every few weeks. A one and a half year old baby recently died after heart donation didn\u2019t materialize. Three other kids- ranging in age from two weeks to a few months- are on the wait list.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is extremely difficult to get a heart donor in pediatric cases. We need the blood group and weight to match. Awareness on heart donation is still low. Also it is emotional for parents of a deceased young child to decide on donating his or her organs,\u201d said Dr Vijay Agarwal, pediatric cardiac surgeon who operated upon Madhavi at Fortis Hospital.<\/p>\n Image credits: indianexpress.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s been an year since she underwent a heart transplant.( In fact, the first child in Mumbai to get a heart at just the age of eight.) Since her life was saved by doctors, Madhavi Vishwakarma has taken the resolution to become a cardiologist herself! Madhavi- a class four student of Lakshdham High School, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":4303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n