Heartbreak and a happy family

BENGALURU: “For us, he’ll still be alive, somewhere. He’ll live in the heart, kidney, liver and eyes of some other children. He’ll always be amid us,” said the heartbroken father of the two-year-old, who was declared brain dead on Thursday.
“He loved to kick the ball all the time. I guess he was interested in football,’’ reminisced the father, proudly. He would have loved to see his little boy play some day.The child, who went to a playschool near Mahadevapura, had already begun to show the makings of an artist.
It all began with a fever, a week ago. When it didn’t subside, the boy’s parents thought it could be a viral infection. The situation worsened after he was administered an injection in a private nursing home near their residence in East Bengaluru.
The boy suffered a heart attack, stopped responding to treatment and was shifted to the ICU. “We consulted many doctors and finally took him to Manipal Hospitals,” the father, a techie with a software giant in Bengaluru, said.
When he was declared brain dead, the parents decided to donate his organs. “He was too young to make a difference to society. May be through this gesture, he will make a difference somewhere. We have not reached a level where live organs are developed in factories. His life should not go in vain,” he said.
Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, medical director, Manipal Hospital, told TOI the reasons for the baby’s cardiac arrest are yet to be known. “As per medical records, the child had fever. This could have worsened with the cardiac arrest. It could also have led to brain damage, finally leading to a cardiac arrest. It’s a tragic death at a tender age. I must appreciate the magnanimous decision of the parents to go ahead with the cadaver donation,” said Dr Ballal.