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Mumbai: A 28-year-old Merchant Navy sailor got second lease of life after he underwent a successful heart transplant at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital (Sir HNRFH).

Jaison Crasto, a Navi Mumbai resident, was on board the ship in early March this year when he first complained of a bad bout of cough.

He was disembarked in Los Angeles, USA in April and taken to nearby hospital where he was diagnosed with viral myocarditis- inflammation of heart muscle due to viral infection. He was advised a heart transplant and was flown to Mumbai on July 09.

Crasto was admitted for a month at Sir HNRFH where his condition was stabilised and sent home with intravenous medication.

“He was admitted to Sir HNRFH on July 09 with irregular heart rate and shortness of breath. While we stabilised him, we listed him for a cadaver heart. He was extremely lucky that within two months, we got a cadaver donor and could do the transplant,” said Dr Anvay Mulay, director, advance cardiac surgery, Sir HNRFH.

This is the first inter-district heart transplant that has happened since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Doctors call this transplant as the silver lining in the present gloomy times of COVID-19.

“What used to be normal for us has taken an entirely new demeanour. Covid-19 has made the entire world obscure, everyone is gloomy and humanity aggrieved but this piece of news is a sort of positive invocation for all of us here at RFH as Crasto is leaving for his home today,” said Dr Mulay.

Speaking about Crasto, Dr Mulay said it is very hard to miss the contagious smile this 26-year-old guy carries with him and the popularity he enjoys among the staff.

“10-25 in 1 lakh people with end-stage heart disease is because of viral myocarditis. In that 25-40 per cent is because of Coxsackie B virus infection where initially you have fever, fatigue, malaise and chest pains,” informed Dr Mulay.