Ahmedabad Civil Hospital records 248th organ donation, saves 3 lives
Synopsis
A grieving Ahmedabad family turned personal tragedy into hope for three strangers. Virendra Gohadiya's wife Anita consented to donate his liver and kidneys hours after his brain death — pushing Ahmedabad Civil Hospital's tally to 248 donors and 821 organs retrieved, a quiet but remarkable milestone in India's cadaver donation story.
Key Takeaways
Ahmedabad Civil Hospital recorded its 248th organ donation on 18 July .
Virendra Gohadiya , 53 , of Bapunagar , was declared brain-dead on 16 July after a hypertension-induced stroke.
His wife Anita consented to donate his organs; one liver and two kidneys were retrieved.
All three organs will be transplanted at the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC) , Ahmedabad.
The hospital has now facilitated 821 organs and 245 tissue donations — a combined total of 1,066 organ and tissue donations.
The donations were driven under the hospital's 'Angdaan Mahadaan' cadaver organ donation campaign.
Ahmedabad Civil Hospital recorded its 248th organ donation on 18 July after the family of Virendra Gohadiya, a 53-year-old resident of the city's Bapunagar area, consented to donate his organs following his brain death — enabling three patients awaiting transplants to receive life-saving treatment.
How the Donation Came About
Gohadiya suffered a brain stroke caused by high blood pressure on 13 July and was first admitted to Singarva Government Hospital. He was subsequently transferred to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for advanced care, where he was treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) for three days. Despite sustained medical efforts, he was declared brain-dead on 16 July.
Following the declaration, the hospital's organ donation team, led by Dr Abhishek Barot, counselled the family on the medical and humanitarian significance of organ donation. In the midst of their grief, Gohadiya's wife Anita agreed to proceed. One liver and two kidneys were subsequently retrieved.
Where the Organs Will Go
All three organs are to be transplanted into patients currently undergoing treatment at the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC), located on the Civil Medicity campus in Ahmedabad. The recipients, who had been waiting for compatible donors, will now avoid further deterioration of their conditions.
The Hospital's Organ Donation Record
Civil Hospital Superintendent Dr Rakesh Joshi confirmed that the latest donation brings the hospital's cumulative total to 248 organ donors, from whom 821 organs have been retrieved to date. Alongside 245 tissue donations — comprising 198 eye donations and 47 skin donations — the hospital has facilitated a combined total of 1,066 organ and tissue donations.
'Our team is continuously working to increase awareness about cadaver organ donation and encourage more people to donate organs so that no patient dies while waiting for an organ and no living person is compelled to donate an organ to save a loved one,' Dr Joshi said.
The 'Angdaan Mahadaan' Campaign
The hospital's organ donation drive operates under the 'Angdaan Mahadaan' campaign, which promotes cadaver organ donation across Gujarat. Dr Joshi praised the Gohadiya family for their decision during an extraordinarily difficult time, calling it an act of generosity that would directly save three lives. This comes amid a broader national effort to reduce India's significant gap between organ demand and supply, where thousands of patients remain on waiting lists each year.
As awareness around brain death and cadaver donation grows, hospitals like Ahmedabad Civil are increasingly central to bridging that gap — one family's consent at a time.
Point of View
Yet deceased donors number in the low thousands. What makes the Civil Hospital's record notable is not just the cumulative figure of 1,066 organ and tissue donations, but the sustained counselling infrastructure behind it. The 'Angdaan Mahadaan' model — where a trained team intervenes sensitively at the moment of brain-death declaration — is precisely the kind of institutional process that national policy has struggled to replicate at scale. The Gohadiya family's consent, given in grief, underscores that the bottleneck is rarely public unwillingness; it is the absence of a trusted, timely conversation at the bedside.
NationPress
19 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the significance of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital's 248th organ donation?
It marks a cumulative milestone in the hospital's cadaver organ donation programme, with 821 organs and 1,066 total organ and tissue donations facilitated to date. The latest donation will directly save three patients awaiting transplants at the IKDRC.
Who was Virendra Gohadiya and what happened to him?
Virendra Gohadiya was a 53-year-old resident of Bapunagar, Ahmedabad, who suffered a brain stroke caused by high blood pressure on 13 July. He was treated at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital's ICU for three days before being declared brain-dead on 16 July.
Which organs were donated and where will they be transplanted?
One liver and two kidneys were retrieved from Virendra Gohadiya. All three organs are to be transplanted into patients undergoing treatment at the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC) on the Civil Medicity campus in Ahmedabad.
What is the 'Angdaan Mahadaan' campaign?
'Angdaan Mahadaan' is Ahmedabad Civil Hospital's campaign to promote cadaver organ donation in Gujarat. The hospital's dedicated organ donation team works around the clock to counsel families of brain-dead patients and raise public awareness about deceased donation.
How does Ahmedabad Civil Hospital's organ donation record compare nationally?
The hospital has facilitated 248 cadaver organ donors, yielding 821 organs and 245 tissue donations — a total of 1,066 donations. This places it among the more active public-sector organ donation centres in India, where deceased donation rates remain significantly below global averages.
