2 weeks ago
From oxygen machine to cycling: life after a lung transplant
Harpreet Singh's lungs were very sick for a long time.
He had asthma, a breathing problem, since he was a child, and it slowly got worse.
Eventually his lungs were so damaged that he had to stay in bed and breathe with the help of an oxygen machine.
His wife Simarjeet helped him bathe, eat, and get around.
Doctors at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram said the only way to help him was to give him new lungs from a donor.
On November 17, 2022, a team of 25 doctors performed the operation.
For a full year afterwards, Harpreet had to be very careful not to catch germs.
Now, four years later, he takes walks with his wife, rides his bicycle, works at his shop, and spends time with his grandson.
Many sick people in India need new lungs, but only a few healthy donor lungs are available.
Harpreet says every day he has now is a gift from God.
Four years after his bilateral lung transplant, 51-year-old Harpreet Singh of Kapurthala walks daily, cycles in the fields and works at his readymade garments shop in Model Town.
Before the surgery on November 17, 2022, Harpreet had been bed-ridden for nearly a year on round-the-clock oxygen support of 10-12 litres because his asthma had progressed to bronchiectasis.
His wife Simarjeet bathed, fed and cared for him through his illness, and a 25-member, multi-speciality team at Medanta Hospital, Gurugram carried out the delicate transplant.
According to NOTTO, India recorded 910 lung transplants between 2021 and 2025 - 394 in Telangana, 273 in Karnataka and just 26 in Delhi.
Dr Arvind Kumar says only about 30% of donor lungs are fit for transplantation, and patients who survive the first year have a 95% chance of reaching five years, against an average survival of 7.6 years.
- Who
- Harpreet Singh, a 51-year-old readymade garments shop owner from Kapurthala, Punjab; his wife Simarjeet; and Dr Arvind Kumar, Chairman of the Institute of Chest Surgery & Lung Transplant at Medanta Hospital, Gurugram.
- What
- Harpreet received a bilateral lung transplant after his lungs failed from bronchiectasis, and has since recovered enough to walk, cycle and work - four years on.
- Where
- Medanta Hospital, Gurugram, India; Harpreet's home is in Kapurthala, Punjab.
- When
- The transplant surgery took place on November 17, 2022; the report describes his life roughly four years later.
- Why
- His lifelong asthma slowly worsened into bronchiectasis, leaving his lungs unable to deliver enough oxygen, and transplant was the only remaining option.
Key facts
- Patient
- Harpreet Singh, 51, shop owner from Kapurthala, Punjab
- Procedure
- Bilateral (double) lung transplant
- Hospital
- Medanta Hospital, Gurugram
- Surgery date
- November 17, 2022
- Key doctor
- Dr Arvind Kumar, Chairman, Institute of Chest Surgery & Lung Transplant, Medanta
- Condition treated
- Bronchiectasis, following lifelong asthma
- Oxygen before transplant
- 10-12 litres per minute, round the clock, for over a year
- Lung transplants in India (2021-2025)
- 910 total - Telangana 394, Karnataka 273, Delhi 26
Quotes
Dr. Arvind Kumar
Chairman of the Institute of Chest Surgery & Lung Transplant at Medanta Hospital, Gurugram
“"We had to be extremely careful while removing them, given the risk to the chest cavity."”
indianexpress.com
“"After that, honestly, every single day has felt like a gift,"”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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